


What Makes a Human?

by katyastevens



Series: Choices - Novelisations, Expansions, and Adaptations [1]
Category: Choices - Fandom, Choices - Stories you play, Perfect Match (Visual Novel), Pixelberry - Fandom, Play Choices, PlayChoices
Genre: Additional scenes, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst and Drama, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst and Romance, Angst with a Happy Ending, Drama, Drama & Romance, Expanded Scenes, F/F, F/M, Family, Family Fluff, Fix-It, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Getting to Know Each Other, I Don't Want to Spoil Everything, Mutual Pining, Mutually Unrequited, Other: See Story Notes, Poly-V Relationship, Polyamorous Character, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, Temporarily Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:42:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 22,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24983281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katyastevens/pseuds/katyastevens
Summary: Recommended by her cousin, Elena Park decides to take a chance on mysterious matchmaking provider Eros - and when Hayden Young steps into her life, it sets off an incredible series of events that none of them could have envisioned.Want to skip the preamble and get straight to the expanded stuff? Head to chapter 7.[An expansion/novelisation of the Perfect Match VN mobile game by Pixelberry.]
Relationships: Damien Nazario & Nadia Park, Damien Nazario/Main Character (Perfect Match), Hayden Young/Main Character (Perfect Match), Nadia Park & Main Character (Perfect Match), Nadia Park/Steve Tennyson, Steve Tennyson & Main Character (Perfect Match)
Series: Choices - Novelisations, Expansions, and Adaptations [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1808356
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This has been bubbling in my head for a while and now it's finally time to unleash it onto the wider world. I was disappointed in book 2 a few chapters in, and spent some time mulling over how I would have prefered things go - and thus this story was born.
> 
> Please note that this is an expansion/novelisation of Perfect Match and as such will cover some topics included in that story, including being in a Poly-V relationship and the discussions involved in that. The discussion on open relationships will occur in a somewhat late chapter, but there is going to be elements of poly relationships from about the halfway mark.

**Chapter 1**

_A ROBOT MAY NOT INJURE A HUMAN BEING OR, THROUGH INACTION, ALLOW A HUMAN BEING TO COME TO HARM._

_A ROBOT MUST OBEY THE ORDERS GIVEN IT BY HUMAN BEINGS EXCEPT WHERE SUCH ORDERS WOULD CONFLICT WITH THE FIRST LAW._

_A ROBOT MUST PROTECT ITS OWN EXISTENCE AS LONG AS SUCH PROTECTION DOES NOT CONFLICT WITH THE FIRST OR SECOND LAWS._

_A ROBOT MAY NOT HARM HUMANITY, OR, BY INACTION, ALLOW HUMANITY TO COME TO HARM._

-

Elena sipped at some sparkling water as she observed the art show from a corner of the room. She had done her initial cousinly duty by turning up and meeting Nadia, and had slunk back a bit to get an overview of what was happening. It had sounded like the same song was playing for the past twenty minutes, soft music gently fading in and out and accompanying the ongoing discussions.

She slipped a hand into a pocket of her denim dress and her fingers touched the edge of a card. She grabbed it and pulled it out, looking at the logo as she tilted the card slightly in the light. The pixel-style ‘E’ glimmered under the light, and Elena bit her lip. The back of the business card just had an address - no email, no phone, no details of anyone who worked at the company.

Nadia had joked that Damian was the cynical one of them three, but Elena had a healthy dose of cynicism herself. Everything about Eros made her feel suspicious, but as she looked at the way Nadia and Steve had been interacting the night, Elena began to feel vaguely hopeful, or maybe just less concerned.

_“We met through Eros. Very exclusive. Super selective with their clientele. But they promise a perfect match and -” Nadai paused and looked back over at Steve, who was once again charming up the guests and seeming like his only purpose in life was to keep them entertained._

_“What’s the catch?”_

_“Nothing! Come on, I know you say you keep lucking out in the dating department, so why don’t you let me refer you?”_

“Still mulling that over?” Damian said, and Elena looked up at him. Like her he had switched over to sparkling water - more than a couple of glasses of champagne could be considered excessive unless you were in the upper echelons of society, neither of which they were.

Elena moved to slip the card back into her pocket, but Damian moved his open palm towards her. “Humour me,” he added. She handed over the card and Damian turned it over in his fingers like she had, reading the vague details on the card and in all likelihood memorising the information.

“Well,” Damian handed the card back and took a long sip of his drink. “I don’t trust it.”

“You don’t trust _anything_ , Damian,” Elena shot back, a smile betraying her true feelings.

“I trust you. And Nadia. And my computer.”

Elena laughed and sipped more of her drink. She turned her attention back to Nadia once more, seeing her cousin’s excitement over yet another person who wanted to buy a painting. Elena didn’t have the same eye for art that her cousin did, and so found it a surprise that people were willing to drop a couple of grand on an artwork, but it made her cousin happy, it made those people happy, and as such it made _Elena_ happy.

And if Elena and Nadia were happy, Damien was vaguely grudgingly content. Even if he caught Elena looking at him with a smile, then cleared his throat and forced a neutral expression on his face.

As the night closed in, a few more sales were made and Nadia closed in on a fifty percent sold rate - not quite the best she had, but given how much interest had been in this exhibition from reviews just on sheer numbers of people that turned up it looked like Brooklyn’s newest fancy had indeed been found.

Once the doors had been closed to the general public, Nadia ran over, laughing without reservation, and swept Elena up in a massive hug. She gave a more modest one to Damian, and grabbed Steve’s hand and entwined her fingers with his as she beamed and chatted on about how _well_ everything had gone, and how _fantastic_ it was, and oh lord she _needed_ to get painting again to replenish her stock.

Damien, being Damien, asked if Nadia wanted to head out and grab some drinks to celebrate, but the way Nadia glanced at Steve she had already made her night’s plans. Seeing that Damien nodded and made his leave, Elena following shortly after.

# # #

Elena did as much research on Eros as she could manage on her own - despite her friendship with Damien she was _not_ going to ask him to use his PI skills and contacts to investigate for multiple reasons. One being that it would encourage his suspicions, and the second being that she did not need him trying to investigate Steve’s every move and uncover all of his deepest, darkest secrets.

Unfortunately, as both Nadia and Damien had said, Eros was incredibly secretive. Their website was as simple as their business card, displaying only their logo, location, and their promise of ‘True Love, Guaranteed’. There was no option to view testimonials from previous clients, no list of people who worked there, and even attempting to track down data from registration sites gave her a ghost address.

As Elena looked at the business card once more, she decided. There was no obligation to continue after the first meeting, and she _was_ curious about what kind of system Eros used to create their so-called perfect match. Nadia had said that after her referral Eros would contact her, so all Elena needed to do was wait and reply.

She closed her laptop and stretched her arms above her head; between her eyes starting to hurt and getting hungry, she needed to grab herself a break. No work was incoming, and she debated between trying to advertise her editing skills to the world a bit more, or settling down with a good show on QuickFlix - and in the time it took her to dig some leftovers out of the fridge and start warming them up in the microwave, QuickFlix won out.

Elena settled down on the sofa with her reheated noodles, flicking to a random show on her queue, and let all thoughts of Eros dissipate from her mind.

# # #

If Elena hadn’t been given the address and strict directions, she would have walked past the building Eros was in multiple times before turning home, disappointed. It was a brilliant white and glass modern low-rise in a sea of similar-looking buildings, an entire sector built at the same time to satisfy a sudden rush of tech companies that wanted to be near Brooklyn, if not directly within it.

There wasn’t even as much as a logo on the door announcing their presense, and Elena pushed down the worry that churned in her stomach. This was definitely the right place, but she still couldn’t erase the concern that she’d walk in, ask for Eros, and either be laughed at or given a blan stare, only to be told she was in the completely wrong area.

Elena shook her head; she was being silly, worrying about nothing. With a deep breath to calm herself, she pulled the door open and walked through, marvelling at the contrast of the interior to the exterior. Inside the reception was made to look as cosy as possible, with plush cream sofas and seating, bronze light fixtures, and dark wood slicing through to create deep focal points, including at the reception desk.

Almost on cue, as the door closed behind Elena, a woman came out of a side room and walked down the reception area, heels clicking on the tiled floor. She had brown hair curled up in a tidy bun, and as she smiled at Elena her hazel eyes gained a small shine.

“Elena Park?” the woman said, offering a hand. Elena took it and shook it breifly before the woman pulled back. “I’m Cecile Contreras, head of matchmaking here at Eros. It’s good to meet you.”

Elena returned her smile, leaving her arms by her side. “It’s nice to meet you too. I hope my cousin’s referral was good.”

“Oh, it was.” Cecile’s smile became wider, if that was possible. “How was the J train? I hope getting to the new Quincy Station wasn’t too much of a hassle.”

Elena jerked back a fraction. “I, uh, yes. How did you know-”

“We do our research here at Eros. Your cousin gave us a lot of useful information. Follow me.”

Cecile turned on her heel and walked back in the direction she had came from, Elena following a step behind. Instead of heading right, they instead headed left down another hallway. To break the silence Elena began to ask a few questions about the matchmaking service, how it worked - both to try and gauge what process they might use as well as to hear what their sales pitch would entail.

Before too long Cecile opened the door to a small room and breezed in, Elena pausing at the threshold for a moment. A lounge chair was the central focus of the room, soft lighting emitting from lamps on the walls, and a wooden chest of drawers against the left wall. Elena furrowed her brows as Cecile sat down and shuffled some papers, placing them down on the drawers.

“Please, feel free to sit down,” Cecile said, and Elena moved at the prompt. She settled into the chair and relaxed back, mildly surprised at how comfortable it was.

“Is this where I tell you my middle name, hobbies, and where I went to high school?” Elena joked, thankful when Cecile let out a couple of laughs.

“Your cousin sent us through almost all the necessary background details. We do have one question before we begin - who are you interested in dating? Men, women, no preference?”

“Women,” Elena said, and Cecile noted that down. Elena’s dating history had been marginally better with women than men, and hopefully that luck would hold out with Eros.

“Good. We’ll be finding out what you’re looking for in a match - personality, interests, hobbies. Place your left hand on the palm scanner - we use biometric data to enhance our process.”

Elena did as she was instructed, the device humming for a few seconds before chiming, and then a steady pulse began to beat, echoing Elena’s own heartbeat.

“Comfortable?” Cecile said, and glanced back at her paperwork when Elena nodded. “Close your eyes and just listen to my voice. Answer from the heart; don’t think too long on your answers.”

When Elena said she was ready, the lights in the room dimmed and Elena closed her eyes. She took a few breaths and the scanner’s pulse slowed.

“Good.” Cecile said, and Elena heard the scratching of a pen. After a moment the questions began - on a vacation, where would your perfect match take you? How would your match surprise you on a date? What friends do you imagine your match had in high school?

Elena frowned, concentrating as the questions came fast, giving her no time to think even if she had wanted to do so. Once the questions were completed, Cecile moved onto skils - what Elena’s perfect match might be good at or have an interest in.

This was one that Cecile allowed Elena some time to think over, and eventually Elena answered that she would be looking for a musician and an animal lover.

“Excellent. That’s all for our questionnaire.” Elena opened her eyes, and a moment later the lights brightened to full intensity. Cecile was looking over a tablet, tapping on it a couple of times before picking it up.

“We broadly divide our matches into sixteen categories, then sub-divide based on specific details in your answers. To start, this is your match type.”

Cecile turned the tablet so that Elena could see; on the screen was a few lines of text, an icon, a label, and a description. Elena’s eyes flicked down to the label and quickly read the details there.

After a last bit of discussion on the next steps, Cecile escorted Elena to the front door and watched as she left. Elena was jolted out of her thoughts by a familiar voice and, as she looked up, a more than familiar sight.

“Made it out of the Mystery Company in one piece, huh?”

Damien stood in his usual brown jacket and black pants, leaning casually against the fencing around the perimeter of Eros’ building. The sun had set while Elena had been doing her questionnaire, and the nearby lighting diffused against his face and left a deeper shadow on his two-day scruff.

“Damien? What are you doing here?” Not that Elena was going to _complain_ , but she was pretty sure she hadn’t-

Nadia.

Of course.

“Check your phone, lovebird,” Damien said, grinning at Elena. As she pulled her phone out and checked messages, he walked back over to where he’d parked his muscle car and stood next to the driver’s side door. “Wanted to make sure you hadn’t joined a cult, or bought a timeshare, or anything...and also offer you a ride home.”

Elena put her phone back in her pocket after having cleared the messages from Damien, Nadia, and a couple of job inquiries. She smiled at Damien as she walked over.

“Aww, you just wanted some dirt on this Mystery Company, huh?” She stood a step away from Damien as his grin grew wider.

“Damn, my big plan is foiled. Come on, I’ll drive you home if you tell me what happened.”

Elena nodded and slipped into the passenger side seat, letting out a calm breath as Damien started up the car and the engine began rumbling. Elena waited until they’d pulled out into one of the more major roads before beginning to fill Damien in on her day, including details on Eros and her interview.

“I just want to see where this goes,” Elena said, glancing out of the passenger window at the passing lights. “It’s unconventional, but maybe unconventional is what works for them?”

“Unconventional is an understatement,” Damien said, turning onto one of the side roads. “But hey, whatever makes you happy.”

Damien didn’t say anything until he had pulled up beside Elena’s apartment, finding a parking spot a few yards away from the main door. He turned the engine off and looked at Elena.

“...I actually mean that too. I want you to be happy.”

Elena grinned as she looked at Damien’s expression. “Oh, really? No sarcasm this time? No snarky retort?”

Damien flicked his glance away for the briefest of moments before matching Elena’s grin. “Despite my unflappably cool facade...I _do_ have the capacity to care about someone. Occasionally.”

Elena grabbed her bag and leaned over to give Damien a chaste kiss on the cheek. “Don’t get sappy on me now, Damien.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it. Night, Elena.”

“Goodnight, Damien.” Elena got out of the car and walked to her apartment building, giving a quick wave as Damien drove off.

# # #

A few days later, Elena was guts-deep in fixing a report when someone started hammering on her door, _rapidly_. Elena put a note in the document before locking her computer, and headed over to the door to find her cousin there. Nadia was excessively excited, her enthusiasm brimming over.

“Elena! I’m guessing you haven’t left your apartment today.” Nadia’s grin almost reached her eyes, though she carefully kept one hand behind the doorframe, out of view.

Elena frowned. “What makes you say that?” She obviously hadn’t been out - busy working - but she wasn’t inclined to admit that to her cousin. Working out the house wasn’t interesting to her - too much fuss trying to find a decent place where she wouldn’t be disturbed for a few hours.

“Because if you stepped outside, you would have noticed _this_ on your doorstep!” Nadia pulled back and moved her arm into view, revealling a bouquet of a dozen brilliant blood red roses, and a note clipped to the wrapping. The note simply had Elena’s name written in a gourgeous flowy script, and was the first thing Elena reached for.

Nadia looked down at the bouquet and inhaled the sweet scent before moving into Elena’s apartment and finding a place to put the flowers down. She scurried back into the living room just as Elena opened the note.

“It’s from Eros!” Elena exclaimed. She turned back to the note and began to read it. “‘Dear Elena, true love awaits! We’ve found someone special for you, and have alredy arranged your first date.’”

“I knew it!” Nadia squealed, wrapping her arms around her cousin. “I got the same from Eros when they found me Steve. Oh, you’re so _lucky_ , I can’t wait to see who they pick for you!”

Elena noticed there was more of the note, and continued on. “‘At the end of the night, we’ll survey you both separately. If you both feel a connection, you’ll be declared a Match! You need only come with an open heart...and leave the rest to destiny.’”

Nadia squeed even more, something Elena wasn’t sure was possible, and hugged Elena tighter. “Well, I came here hoping you ask how your appointment went, but I guess I have my answer!”

“You could have called, Nadia.”

“Like when I called when you were at your appointment and I never got a response?” Nadia stood back and gave Elena her best disappointed look, which would barely work on a six year old.

“Oh.” Yeah. Nadia had called during that time, but Elena had been distracted by Damien, then subsequently work, and had just forgotten to respond.

“Well, never mind. This is going to be _amazeballs_! Right?!”

“Well,” Elena placed the note on her coffee table and sighed. “Damien is still pretty sceptical of Eros, and I can’t say I blame him...”

“But Steve! Steve is a sweet perfect _cinnamon roll_ and Eros helped me find him! You can’t argue with that, can you?” Nadia grabbed Elena’s hands and held them between hers, looking up with large, sad eyes. “This could be _your_ Steve. You’re not going to give up this opportunity, are you?”

Elena smiled. “Of course not. Eros has scheduled our first date for...” Elena saw the date and let out a low curse. “ _Tomorrow.”_

“Oh!” Nadia grabbed Elena’s hands again. “We _have_ to get you shopping. You need something to make an _amazing_ first impression!”

Nadia didn’t let Elena protest, almost immediately dragging Elena out of the apartment - only relenting when Elena commented that she probably needed her cards and keys before they dashed out and locked themselves out with no money for anything. Once Nadia saw that Elena had picked up those two items she was almost pushing Elena towards the elevator, and hurrying her towards the local clothing stores.

Elena browsed the racks absently while Nadia tore from one to the other, her artist’s eye picking out the best combination of outfit that would suit Elena and give the best impression on her first date.

After a few minutes Nadia returned with a handful of items dangling from hangers, and all but shoved them into Elena’s arms and ordered her into the changing rooms. Elena went through a few pieces before pulling on an amethyst-coloured lacy dress and looked at herself in the mirror. Her ombre-dyed red hair contrasted nicely, and with the addition of a sheer white strap top it seemed to fit perfectly.

Elena tried on the rest of the outfits as a matter of curiosity, and added a couple of other pieces to the pile.

“This one,” Elena said, holding up the dress to Nadia as she made her way over to the checkouts, and Nadia grinned once more; how her cheeks weren’t aching, Elena didn’t know.

The two of them chatted aimlessly on their walk back to Elena’s apartment, and Nadia grabbed Elena in a crushing hug outside of the building.

“I’ll be over tomorrow to help you get ready, but please please _please_ let me know how it goes, I’ll want to know everything!”

Elena laughed and pulled away from Nadia. “I’ll tell you everything. I promise.”

Elena stayed outside, watching her cousin walk away, before turning and heading into the building. She had a fair amount of work to do, and with the following night now occupied, she needed to make the most of her free time to get ahead of schedule.

Her mind drifted to thoughts of her upcoming date, distracting her enough that she decided to finish up the section she had been doing and instead settle in with some easy watching on QuickFlix.

Elena certainly couldn’t complain about Steve, but her own worries were that she wouldn’t be as lucky. Eros was selling some high stakes romance and promising a lot, and it would remain to see if their promises held weight.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The next evening, Elena was busying herself applying makeup while Nadia rearranged the wardrobe and drawers trying to find the _perfect_ accessories. Joining the dress and shirt was a caramel mini-jacket, a golden wireframe bracelet, and a clear white crystal pendant necklace.

“This feels like I’m going over the top,” Elena said, switching layering blush on for swiping some lipstick on her. “Am I going over the top?”

“Not possible,” Nadia said, moving over to look into the mirror over Elena’s shoulder. “This is your once in a lifetime opportunity, if there’s any time to show your best it’s now.”

Elena put down her lipstick and smiled at Nadia. She dabbed at her forehead, inspecting her makeup in the mirror before standing up and beginning to accessorise. Just as she slipped on her bracelet the doorbell went, and Nadia dashed off to answer it.

Elena fiddled with her bracelet, trying to look like she was just adjusting it. Whether it was Nadia’s enthusiasm or her own expectations, a pit of anxiety had settled into Elena’s stomach and she began to think this was a mistake. Elena had tried blind dates - suggestions largely made by her cousin on people she knew, friends of friends who were looking for someone - and online dating services, but this was the worst of both. Matched up by someone on the promise that there might be something, but with no knowledge of what the other person might like or even be vaguely interested in.

Eros had given her no information on her date, and she doubted her date had been given anything on her, either. An evening of staring at each other over a meal, silence from having nothing to talk about, and ending with a polite thank you and a resolution to never bother again.

“This is it!” Nadia said, having switched from encitement to terror. She bounced on the balls of her feet, craning over to look at the door as if someone would walk through at any moment.

“Nadia, no one’s expecting this night to be perfect. Not even me.” A knock on the door echoed a moment later and Elena opened the door, a polite smile on her face.

“Hi, I’m Hayden. You must be Elena.”

It took Elena a moment for her brain to reboot and start working again. The woman in front of her had soft blonde hair that was slightly wavy as it brushed her shoulders, strong blue eyes, and gently pale skin. Elena felt a little overdressed as Hayden was dressed in a striped shirt, green jacket, and blue jeans.

“Uh, yes...Elena. Me. Elena is me. I mean I’m Elena, yes.” Elena shot a glance at her cousin who was desperately trying to hide a laugh behind her hand, and waved Elena off with her other hand. “Shall we get going?”

“Sure,” Hayden said, her smile seeming to gain a hundred watts. The pit in Elena’s stomach mutated, now doing tumbles but Elena was still unsure if it was anxiety or something different.

“Have fun!” Nadia called as Elena stepped out of the apartment and Elena closed the door.

“My cousin. She’s the one who referred me to Eros.”

“Well I think I owe her a thank-you,” Hayden said, tucking her hands into her jeans pockets. “One of my work colleages referred me; I only took the quiz a week ago, I didn’t expect Eros to work this fast.”

“Me either.” Elena called for the elevator and stood, unsure of what to say. Hayden was similarly quiet, though for her she didn’t seem concerned about it. The silence continued throughout the elevator journey down, and to the front door of the building.

Eros had arranged for the dinner to be at a local restaurant, a short hop on the J train from Elena’s place on Bedford Avenue to Myrtle Avenue. Elena had heard about Jade from friends and online reviews, but one look at the prices had solidified it as a ‘special occasions only’ place, and even then one Elena would have had to save up for over a couple of months. Now that they were heading there, she was beginning to wonder just how much of a hit on her bank account this would cause.

“How crazy is this?” Hayden said, looking around with a grin. The streetlights dappled her skin, illuminating her pure joy at the situation. “A few days ago I was answering some questions about my perfect match, and now we’re here.” Hayden glanced at Elena, giving her a once-over. “I need to have a talk with Cecile. She told me you were beautiful, but she didn’t do you justice at all.”

Elena blushed. “Thanks. You look good yourself.”

Hayden laughed. “Next to you, I’m way underdressed.”

The ice broken, Elena and Hayden settled in to comfortable talk as they made their way to Jade, stopping only for Hayden to squee over a puppy and, after getting permission from the owner, giving her some pets and attention.

“So you’re a dog person?” Elena asked as the dog and her owner disappeared out of earshot.

“Hell yeah. All animals, if I’m honest. I have a brown border collie at home, name of Dipper.”

“As in Big Dipper or Little Dipper?”

“Pick your favourite.” Hayden smiled and Elena reached out, grabbing Hayden’s hand in hers. It felt oddly perfect and yet comfortable, like it was something Elena had done a thousand times before.

“I’d love to meet Dipper.”

“That can be arranged.”

Before long they arrived at the restaurant, escorted to a table near the back with a wooden sign burned with the word ‘Reserved’ in a fancy cursive script. They got the rundown of the menu - a full-course menu specially selected by Eros, and settled in for the evening.

They traded stories of work, home, and hobbies in between food and sips of rice wine. Hayden worked for NASA as an astronautical engineer, and lived with a roommate as well as her dog; she read a lot as a hobby, but learned the piano as a child; they also shared a number of similar likes in terms of food, movies, and travel destinations. And all throughout the evening she ignored the excited texts from Nadia begging to hear _all the details_ , and Damien offering to create a diversion and deploy a rescue mission.

Conversation became easier and easier as the night went on, and soon Elena found that she had a smile on her face more often than not, and the same appeared to be the same for Hayden. When the subject of ‘tea with tailored conversation topics’ arose from the waitress, that soured Elena’s mood a little.

Hayden, however, managed to smooth things. She bartered with the waitress, staying for the dessert course (a fresh fruit platter) but leaving before the conversation prompts. Eros had covered the bill, but Elena still left a decent tip as she and Hayden walked out of the restaurant.

“That was nice,” Elena said, and Hayden laughed.

“‘Nice?’ I guess I need to up my game.” She pulled out her phone and checked the time. “It’s still earlyish. If you’d allow me, I’d like to take you to one of my favourite places in the city. I can almost guarantee you’ll never have seen anything quite like it.”

Elena paused to consider. She pulled out her own phone, swiping past the newest messages she’d received in the twenty minutes since she’d last checked her phone. It was not quite 10PM, and being freelance it didn’t matter if her work day started at 9AM or 1PM...

“Sure. Show me the way.”

Hayden offered her hand and Elena took it once more. Hayden stayed a half-step ahead of Elena, passing through a local park and moving towards Bushwick. Before too long Hayden walked beside a strip of abandoned buildings before stopping in front of one and grabbing something out of a pocket.

“This is-”

“So not what you expected?” Hayden said, bending down to the lock and putting a pin in. After a moment of focus, the lock disengaged with a click, Hayden opening the door and gesturing for Elena to go first.

“Do you break and enter for all your first dates?”

“Only the special ones.” Hayden took the lead once again as they both entered the building, and she walked up a set of winding stairs up to the top floor. There the spacious windows of the warehouse looked out onto the brilliant lights of New York City, though Elena’s eye was equally drawn to the artwork splashed across the ceiling.

“What is this place?”

“An entertainment venue, part art museum, part concert performance space. The artwork here is great, but I tend to come here for the view.”

Hayden headed towards the window, pulling out a bottle of wine and two glasses from a hidden corner. She looked over at Elena and, when Elena nodded, popped the cork and poured out two glasses. Hayden settled the bottle and one glass on the sill at the bottom of the window, and handed the other glass to Elena as Elena moved to join Hayden.

“It’s so peaceful,” Elena said, taking a sip of her wine. Hayden nodded as she picked up her glass, though chose to hold it for the time.

“That’s why I like it here. You’re still in the city, but you’re not _in_ the city. You can sit here and watch everyone pass by, but you’re in your own little space. It’s a little refuge.”

Elena sat down on the ledge, folding a leg beneath her and taking a few more sips of wine. Conversation turned more towards romance and love lifes, or lack of - why Eros, what they wanted out of a partner, what they’d tried before.

By the time the bottle of wine was nearing empty, the evening started to take its effect on Elena. She stifled a yawn, succeeding in only delaying it for a second.

“I can get the message,” Hayden said, standing up and putting the wine and her glass into her bag. “Let’s get you home, I can take the scenic route.”

“That would be nice,” Elena said, finishing her glass before handing it to Hayden. They headed out, Hayden locking the door as they left, Elena slipping her arm through Hayden’s and walking with elbows linked back to Elena’s apartment in Bed-Stuy.

Hayden left Elena with a good night at the building entrance, and Elena headed up to her apartment. It had gotten late, and Nadia had left after leaving a message scrawled on the fridge whiteboard, stressing that she was _not_ going to let a discussion of the date go unmet.

As Elena erased the message, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and put it on the countertop. After getting herself a glass of water, she comprised a quick message to the group chat, letting both know that she was home safe and was heading to bed. Just before she set her phone to ‘do not disturb’, one message pinged.

_Good to know I won’t need to send out a search party. Night, Elena._

# # #

True to her word, Nadia had called Elena up and demanded to know every single detail of the date. Where did they go, what did they talk about, did they trade embarassing stories, did they kiss?

Elena managed to wave off the worst of the questions - it went well, she and Hayden seemed to make a decent connection, and after a good three-quarters of an hour on a one-sided conversation, Elena was able to create some room to ask her own questions. How was Nadia feeling after her successful art show, were things with Steve going well, were they still available for their usual Saturday morning brunch meet-up?

Nadia had responded with her usual cheer and enthusiasm, and as such Elena and Damien found themselves, a few days later, waiting in their usual restaurant waiting for both their brunch orders and Nadia and Steve. Elena had one hand clenched in a fist, pressed against her temple, while her other hand played with the cloth napkin on her right. She had been hoping for a response from Eros one way or the other - her mind had been occupied with thoughts of Hayden, and she was beginning to wonder if Hayden had forgotten to fill in her response, or she was deliberately delaying.

A person walked by the table and snapped Elena’s attention, but it was someone who vaguely resembled Hayden, not actually her. Elena shook her head and resumed her prior position, this time twirling a fork in her right hand, not hearing what was next said.

“Earth to Elena...Elena, are you still awake?”

“Huh?” Elena dropped the fork with a clatter, flushing as a couple of nearby people looked over at their table at the noise. She looked up at Damien who had a flat, neutral expression.

“I _was_ trying to ask...how was your _perfect_ evening with your _perfect_ girl? Was everything _perfection_?” Elena huffed, and Damien grinned. “I already know the answer,” he added, his trademark grin appearing. “It’s not just your head that’s in the clouds, your _feet_ are barely touching them. Let’s just hope you said you wanted to see her again.”

“Of _course_ I said I want to see her again!” Elena exclaimed, just as their waitress carried over their food - a full stack of pancakes with maple syrup for Damien, and eggs Benedict for Elena. Damien wasted no time in dousing his pancakes with syrup, whie Elena picked up the fork and began to tentatively poke at her eggs.

“Elena?”

“I just haven’t heard from Eros about her response. What if she’s said no and I’m left in limbo?”

“If Hayden says no, it’s her loss.”

“I guess...” Elena said, still poking at her eggs. She glanced at her phone, but there was no change. Still the same amount of emails, still no new unread message. She let out a sigh and began to let her mind wander before Damien tapped the table.

“Give me your phone.”

Elena blinked back into reality. “Why?”

“Because I am not spending the next half-hour watching you mope and not eat. Give me your phone and I’ll let you know if you get a message.”

Elena rolled her eyes but relented, and Damien placed her phone next to his plate. He made some small talk as they ate, asking how work was going and if she had started watching anything new and interesting on QuickFlix. The longer they chatted the more relaxed Elena became, and she even stopped glancing over at her phone every few minutes.

However, when her phone pinged, she was almost on her feet and reaching across to pick up her phone before Damien swiped it away. He looked at the screen before handing it over to Elena.

“It’s from Eros.”

Elena hurriedly took her phone and swiped the screen, eyes scanning across the email for the essential details. And there, in its beauty, was it.

“She said _yes_! We’re a match!” Elena beamed across the table at Damien.

“Isn’t that a Hallmark story for the ages. Set up on a blind date by an intermediary company and one date declares you a match.”

“Hush, you,” Elena said, waving a hand to dismiss Damien. She grinned as she read the rest of the details, and glanced up to see that Damien was also smiling.

“I am happy for you. I would have had to knock some sense into Hayden if she’d said ‘no’.”

“God, I have to tell Nadia. She’ll be mad she wasn’t the first to know.”

“Well, you could have told her _in person_...if she and Steve weren’t late for brunch again. The whole world could be ending and they’d still be doing their sappy slow couple walk.”

“Aww, are you jealous?” Elena said, putting her phone down and paying attention to Damien once more. “We could always get you a match from Eros.”

“I’m good. Besides, what do we really know about Steve? How much does _Nadia_ really know? What kind of guy wins a Pet Philanthropy Award, owns multiple timeshares, _and_ knows how to bake créme brulée cream puffs? From memory.”

“From memory? _Wow._ ”

“My point is...he looks good on paper. What do you think? Con artist? Adulterer? Trust fund kid?”

“Come on, Damien. Suspicion looks good on the job, but not when you’re talking about a friend’s new beau. At least give him a _chance_ to prove you wrong.”

“Aren’t you the shiny optimist.”

Elena grinned. “Someone’s got to balance out your grumpy suspicion.”

“Do you?” Damien returned Elena’s grin as the waitress came to remove their empty plates. “Eros doesn’t sit right with me either. I can barely find anything about them, even calling in my contacts. They seem to be completely off the radar.”

“They do say they’re an exclusive matchmaking service. They probably don’t want everyone overwhelming them.”

“Mmm.” Damien took a sip of his coffee. “At least they’re taking it slow. Plenty of time to figure each other out and uncover any oddities.” He glanced up, and Elena looked over her shoulder to see Nadia and Steve walking into the restaurant, both brethless and wih identical giddy grins.

“Elena! Damien!” Nadia dashed over and gave the two of them a hug in turn, Steve not far behind.

“We have news!” Steve added, looking at Nadia. She returned his gaze and grabbed his hand, almost more excited than Elena had seen her.

“We’re moving in together!” Steve said, patently ignoring the ‘ _What!_ ’ Damien let out.

“We’re going to be throwing a housewarming party! Elena, you _need_ to bring Hayden - she’s now your _date_ after all!”

“Actually...” Damien’s expression turned from shocked to serious, then amused. “That would be great. I’d love to meet Hayden and get to know her too. Won’t this be fun?”

“Oh...right,” Elena said, sitting back in her seat. She plastered on a smile for Nadia, and stayed on the peripheray of the conversation as Nadia and Steve talked on and on about moving plans - Steve putting in his notice for his own place, how they planned to rearrange Nadia’s apartment to fit in a whole new person while keeping her art space, and Elena caught Damien’s exasperated expression.

Nadia and Steve each ordered a dish, but elected to share a milkshake. By the time they were finished and were ready to split the bill four ways, Elena began to have an inkling about Damien’s feelings of all the romance that was surging around him. Still, he kept up a smile and good natured quips whenever he got included in the conversation, and when he made his excuses he made sure to note that it was genuiely because of work. Ashort while later Elena made her own excuse, also genuinely for work reasons, and left the two lovebirds to share longing looks over more food.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3  
**

Elena rummaged through her wardrobe, consignment store purchases laid out nicely on the bed while she tried to find something that would make a decent and acceptable outfit for a house warming party. She had chosen a top - a black one-sleeved top with sheer fabric - but was coming up hideously short on anything else to go with it. She had other options, but while Nadia wouldn’t mind if she turned up in well-worn jeans and a boyfriend plaid shirt, it wouldn’t make the best impression on Steve or other guests.

With a sigh, she reached into the deep recesses of her wardrobe and brought other things into the light. None caught her attention and she went back to consider one thing she had debated, a pair of high-waisted gold pants. With a lack of other real options, she held the two up against the mirror and considered that they looked _reasonable_.

Her phone blipped and Elena took a few minutes to clean up her bedroom, shoving all of the losing clothes back into the wardrobe and leaving her chosen outfit on the bed. She grabbed a hair tie and bundled her hair up into a bun before grabbing her laptop from the living room, shoving it in her bag, and heading out.

# # #

“So, bringing Hayden to a casual group of friends, eh? _Big_ step!”

Elena snorted, hoping she looked annoyed, but the smile curling the corners of her mouth up betrayed her. She had hopped over to Damien’s office to help him with some paperwork and documents, and he had mercifully been quiet over the whole situation until just that moment.

Popping over to Damien’s office for work was a common event for the two of them – Elena paid a small amount of money per day she was there and it gave her an official-looking place to do some work where she wouldn’t be distracted by QuickFlix. For Damien it gave him someone to talk to that wasn’t a client, investigative source, or the person he was trying to track down.

“I can _hear_ the sarcasm dripping off of that comment,” Elena said, committing her recent changes. She looked over at Damien from her position on the sofa. “This is important to me, okay? I want everything to go right.”

“Relax. I was joking. I get it.” Damien typed a couple of things onto his computer before sighing. He leaned back in his chair and stretched his hands above his head. “How has Hayden been? Any more _perfect_ dates?”

Elena levelled Damien with a glare, and he held his hands up in surrender. “All right. I accept a moratorium of me teasing you about Hayden.”

“Good. And she’s good. We had a late lunch in Central Park the other day. I was going to show her around the High Line soon; she said she’s been meaning to walk it but hasn’t found the time yet.”

Damien made a noise of approval, but otherwise stayed silent. He tapped on his keyboard a few more times, and soon Elena was typing away once again as well, eyes focused on her work. She only paused when Damien asked if she wanted a coffee run, to which she nodded and fished out a five dollar bill for him to take. He returned not quite fifteen minutes later, chain coffee cups in hand, and Elena focused on the last sections of the document she needed to check over.

Once done, she hit the keyboard shortcut for ‘save’ with a flourish and closed her laptop a few seconds later. As she slipped her laptop into her bag, readying for her return trip, she glanced up at Damien who was still focused on his own computer.

“I’ll see you at Nadia’s place?” Elena said, and Damien looked up, belatedly realising the time and what Elena was doing. “Don’t work too late.”

Damien smiled and gave a half wave. “I won’t. See you later.”

Elena returned both the smile and the wave, double-checking her bag before quietly slipping out of the office.

# # #

Elena had given Hayden Nadia’s address, but hadn’t expected to see her waiting outside, having got there a decent amount of time before Elena had. Seeing what Hayden was wearing, Elena let out a brief smile - both wearing black tops, though Hayden’s had a teardrop cut-out with a halter neck, and a pink wrap-around skirt.

“Hey, Hayden. Eager to start the party?” Elena said; Hayden turned around, bright smile on her face, and her jaw dropped as soon as she took in a proper view of Elena.

“ _Wow_ , Elena...I...That outfit is _literally_ stunning. You look amazing.”

“You’re not so bad yourself,” Elena said. “We almost match.”

Hayden let out a soft laugh. “We do, don’t we?” She stepped closer to Elena and gave a brief hug; Elena returned the gesture, more than friendly but not yet quite romantic. “Shall we make our grand entrance?”

“Lets.”

Hayden offered her elbow, and Elena slipped her hand into the opening. They walked over to the front door, dialling in to Nadia’s apartment and, after an excited welcome over the intercom, made their way up.

The front door had been left open a crack, and even at a distance Elena could hear low music and the general murmur of people. As she opened the door and stepped through, her eyes swept across the living room and saw many, _many_ more people than she had anticipated.

“Wow...I wasn’t expecting a full-blown social event.”

“Neither was I...” Elena said, just as she heard Nadia let out an excited squeal, and a moment later Nadia had engulfed Elena in a huge hug. Steve followed at a half-pace behind, seeming to be in his element with a large genuine smile on his face.

“Elena! And Hayden! You both made it!”

“Of course we did,” Elena said. “Hi Steve. This is Hayden, my date.”

Nadia grinned, having met Hayden the day of Elena’s date; Steve and offered his hand to shake.

“Glad to meet you, Hayden.” Steve smiled, turning from Hayden to Elena. “It’s nice to see you again too, Elena. How have you been?”

“Jumping from work piece to work piece, but surviving.”

The four of them made some more small talk before Nadia let out an exclamation and hurried over to a newly-arrived guest, practically fawning over her. Elena laughed and shook her head, and before long Steve had peeled off as well, commenting about getting some more snacks for the guests and being a host in lieu of Nadia.

“He’s nice,” Hayden said. “He’s trying to make everyone feel welcome, even his girlfriend’s cousin’s date.”

“They definitely seem good for each other.” Hayden smiled at that, and Elena had an absent though - that could be her and Hayden if things played out well. That didn’t frighten her as much as she thought it might; in fact it even seemed _nice_.

As Elena knew the apartment, and knew at least a few of the people Nadia had invited, she played tertiary host by welcoming a few people, grabbing some snacks when things ran out, and made sure drinks were readily available. She had grabbed Hayden a drink, and smiled when she saw a few people talking to her, asking questions and engaging in discussion.

Elena took a break for a few minutes, sitting down on the sofa next to Hayden with a glass of water, and saw Damien approaching from the corner of her eye.

“Elena! I finally caught you. And this must be Hayden.” He strolled up, grin on his face, his usual white shirt swapped out for a blue one, though his tie seemed to be the same. He held out a hand for Hayden, who had been perched on the arm rest of the sofa, and she extended her own hand.

“This is Damien. Damien, Hayden.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Hayden said, removing her hand from the handshake. “I’ve heard a few things about you.”

“Good things, I hope.” Damien looked over at Elena, a wide grin on his face. “Hopefully she’s not been sharing any embarrassing stories.”

“Oh, all good things. She mentioned you met when you saved Nadia from a stalker...?”

Damien shrugged. “Someone was sending her _explicit_ pictures. An obsessed fan of her art exhibits. I tracked him down, slapped him with a restraining order, case closed. “

“We’ve been drinking buddies ever since,” Elena added. She looked over at Damien with a smile, one that he returned.

“Well, good people are hard to find. Once you find ‘em, you don’t let ‘em go.”

“Sounds like good advice. Do you need a drink?” Both Elena and Damien accepted the offer, and Hayden headed off to the kitchen to grab some glasses.

Elena quickly checked around to see that neither Nadia nor Steve were within earshot, and leaned slightly closer to Damien. “So, thoughts on Nadia and Steve moving in together? It’s a huge step.”

“Maybe too huge, if you ask me.” Damien moved to sit on the sofa next to Elena; she shuffled up a little to make some more room. He fiddled with the cuff button on his sleeve, turning it in his fingers before undoing it. “But we know Nadia - once she decides on something, she can’t be persuaded otherwise.”

“Such a Damien answer,” Elena said, shaking her head. Damien undid the button on his other sleeve, rolling both up to above his elbow.

“Are you calling me predictable?”

“Of _course_ not.”

“Good.” Damien lounged back and rested his arms on the back of the sofa, one arm extended behind Elena. “I’d _hate_ to think my motivations can be deciphered.”

Hayden returned with drinks for all three of them - light sparkling wine, and Elena took a delicate sip. She let out a sigh and leaned back a bit, crossing one leg over the other and just watching the party unfold in front of her. She and Hayden traded a bit of idle chat before someone called Hayden over; she made her excuses and walked over to the other side of the room.

Damien glanced around the room himself, and raised his eyebrows. “Huh, Hayden seems to be popular.”

Elena followed his gaze, seeing Hayden talking to another woman at the party. The two of them were engaged in some quite energetic discussions, Hayden laughing openly while the other person giggled behind her hand.

Elena stood up and walked over, casually putting her hands in her pockets. She didn’t get close enough to hear what they were saying before the person Hayden had been talking with noticed Elena and turned around, shock on her face.

“Oh! Um...hi,” the other woman said. Her brown eyes flicked side to side nervously behind her glasses, and her brown hair was tightly curled up in multiple plaits that combined into a side bun. She was wearing a powder blue top, long sleeves and a turtleneck, along with a tartan pattern skirt.

“Hi, I’m Elena. I don’t think we’ve met.” Elena held out her hand and the woman looked at it for a second before awkwardly jutting her own hand out and shaking it.

“Yes! I know that. Elena. You’re Elena, I mean.” She laughed a little at that, a nervous little titter.

Hayden laughed and placed a hand on the other woman’s shoulder. “This is Sloane, my roommate.”

“Indeed. I’ve heard a lot about you, Elena.” Sloane smiled, one that seemed exceedingly forced. “Hayden has said she thinks you’re really hot. Oh!” Sloane covered her mouth with a hand. “Which I wasn’t supposed to say! It’s a secret, or was supposed to be one...”

“Well, I’m flattered. Did Hayden invite you along?” Elena mentally brushed over Sloane’s awkwardness.

“Oh, no. Parties are not for me.”

“I left my cell phone at home,” Hayden said, giving Sloane a side long look. “She brought it here for me, though _maybe_ I deliberately left it to switch off from the world for a bit.”

“But what if I needed to contact you? How would I know where you were? Besides, you probably just forgot it. You’re more forgetful than you’d like to admit.”

“Okay, you may be right there,” Hayden said.

Elena talked a bit more with Sloane before Sloane headed off - giving the reason that she was socially awkward and needed to go home. Hayden rubbed her eyes, but Elena laughed it off as Sloane left.

# # #

About twenty minutes later, Nadia and Steve had called everyone present to the living room to announce the reason behind the party, and to invite everyone up to the top-floor flat roof for more of a celebration.

A few people drifted away at that, saying goodbye to Nadia and Steve before heading out of the apartment. Hayden held out her hand to Elena. “Shall we?”

Elena took Hayden’s hand and the two held back from the majority of the group. “Nadia really has a lovely apartment, doesn’t she?” Hayden said, and Elena smiled.

“You haven’t seen half of it.”

Elena let Hayden go first, and watched as Hayden’s jaw dropped at the sight. Nadia’s apartment was at a height on par with most other apartments in the area, and straight above was a direct line of sight to the night sky. With the city gloom it wasn’t as impressive as it could be, but seeing the sky streaked over the Manhattan skyline was still an impressive sight.

The flat roof was the one area Nadia had prioritised immediately upon moving it, making it as perfect as she could have imagined it before even thinking about doing up the inside of the apartment. It still held a few relics of that time, namely a few pieces of mis-matched furniture that were still usable, and the fairy lights that were strung up above everyone’s heads and leading to one pole where they wound down to the ground.

“Let’s celebrate. To new beginnings!”

Steve led the toast and everyone echoed his sentiment. Nadia popped over to the stereo and changed the music from a gentle melody to a light bass rock. As Nadia moved back into the group a few people caught her attention and one hugged her, both with huge smiles on their faces.

Elena moved to a small space that had been cleared for a dance floor and began shimmying in the spot, shuffling her feet slightly and closing her eyes. After a moment she felt a hand on her wrist and opened her eyes to see Hayden there, avoiding eye contact and with a blush across her cheeks.

Elena moved her hand to grab Hayden’s, and pulled her onto the dance floor. Elena spun Hayden around, a smile on her own face, before the two began dancing face to face, both dancing in their own way that somehow still managed to be coordinated. Other people joined them, and Elena lost herself in the music and the feeling of the breeze on her skin.

The next time Elena opened her eyes she pulled Hayden close, guiding Hayden’s hands onto her hips, Elena’s own hands knotting together behind Hayden’s neck. Elena randomly looked beyond Hayden to see Damien looking over at them, and as he saw that Elena was looking at him he smiled at her and raised his glass in a silent toast.

“Did you want to go somewhere more private?” Hayden said in a low whisper, bringing Elena back to the woman in front of her. Elena raised an eyebrow, and Hayden laughed. “Not like _that_. Steve told me there’s an even better view of the city out on the fire escape. It’ll be less noisy, less crowded...”

“Crowds not your thing?”

Hayden removed one of her hands from Elena’s waist, and folded it over Elena’s on her neck. “I’m not fussed. We can stay here if you want.”

“I never said that.” Elena moved her hands from Hayden’s neck, still holding the one Hayden had moved. “Let’s go and see the sights.”

# # #

Elena passed Hayden one of the beers she had grabbed before they left the roof, and took a sip of her own. Elena sat down on the floor of the fire escape, threading one leg through the rails and letting it dangle down above the city below.

The fire escape area had more fairy lights scattered around, and the low light left a nice soft glow around the area. Elena absently held up her beer bottle and twisted around, letting the lights shimmer off the brown glass.

“Steve wasn’t lying,” Hayden said, her gaze already off into the middle distance. She took a sip of her own beer and let out a low sigh. “This is nice.”

“Not a fan of parties.”

Hayden swirled her beer around before answering. “It’s not my usual scene, doing the whole mingling thing...but your friends made me feel welcome.” Hayden took another sip and gave Elena a grin. “And it looks like you and Damien are especially close.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. It’s nice, seeing how close you are.”

Elena hummed. “You know, I think he might be a bit jealous of you.”

“Jealous? Of me?” Hayden looked shocked at that thought.

“Yeah. Damien and I are really close, but we’ve clicked in just a couple of weeks. Who wouldn’t be jealous of that?”

“Then I hope I made your friends jealous, but not too jealous.” Hayden put her beer bottle down. “Speaking of friends, I’m glad you got to meet Sloane, even if it wasn’t expected.”

“I was glad to meet her. She seemed nice, and thoughtful for bringing your phone over.”

Hayden nodded at that, and the two of them continued making small talk as they looked out over the city. At one point Hayden stretched her arm across Elena’s, and Elena leaned into the touch.

“This is nice.”

# # #

About an hour later, Elena was in the kitchen looking over at the remaining supplies of food. The party was beginning to wind down, but there was more than enough people still around to easily demolish what was left. Just as she was thinking of what to grab for herself, Nadia wrapped her arms around Elena’s arm.

“Elena! I’ve roped Damien into a game of Truth of Drink, you’ve gotta join us!”

Elena turned around, eyebrows raised. She looked over at Damien who just gave a casual shrug.

“I’ve had a decent amount to drink, and I’m feeling generous.” He leaned against the doorframe, though Elena wasn’t sure if he was being casual or he needed a little help standing up.

“How’s Hayden?” Elena asked, moving to look back into the living room. Somehow Hayden had become the centre of the party, everyone lining up to talk to her. Seeing that, Elena retreated back into the kitchen and nodded. “All right, I’m in.”

Nadia gave out a cheer and instantly began rummaging through the cupboards. She pulled out three shot glasses and a nearly full bottle of tequila, filling each glass up to the brim.

“Rules: whoever’s turn it is, the other two get to ask questions. You _must_ answer truthfully. Questions continue until you don’t want to answer, and take a drink, then the next person goes.”

“How do we know who wins?”

“Whoever’s still standing at the end,” Damien said, working his tie loose. “Well, let’s get this over with - I’ll go first.”

Elena grinned, questions already forming in her mind. Damien seemed to shrink back a little at her expression, but he held her gaze with a confident smirk.

“All right. Ever investigate someone for _personal_ reasons?”

Damien spluttered. “Of course not! I’m a professional!”

Nadia looked at Damien. “You’ve never investigated an ex? Or an ex’s new lover?”

Damien placed his fingers around his shot glass, but he still answered. “Well, I _hardly_ would have called him her new ‘lover’...and he did have priors on his arrest record for drunk and disorderly.” Damien grinned at that.

“So the answer is ‘yes, yes you did’.” Elena said.

“I had to make sure he wasn’t a creep! Or, you know, better than me.” He snorted. “He wasn’t, by the way.”

Nadia took the lead. “Elena and I have both been to Eros. Who would be your perfect match?”

Damien mused on that for a while, before catching Elena’s eyes. “Someone loyal. Clever. Sarcastic almost to a fault. Someone who knows me, and knows what they want.”

When Nadia looked back to Elena, Elena shook her head - she didn’t have any more immediate questions.

“All right, Damien. Here’s a hard one for you: what’s your middle name? I’ve seen you list three initials before...”

Damien went pale, and was almost speechless. “Oh...That...Well...” He swallowed before grabbing his drink and downing it. Nadia pouted, while Elena laughed.

“ _That_ bad? C’mon, now you’ve _got_ to tell us-”

“I drank. You stop the questions. Those are the rules.” Damien paused. “I say Nadia is next. Elena, any questions?”

Elena glanced out of the kitchen, one forming on her mind. “What’s Steve like in the bedroom?”

Damien muttered an ‘ _oh lord’_ while Nadia beamed, way too excited to answer the question.

“Oh he is _amazing_. His stamina is something else, and he does things with his hands that I never imagined before!”

Damien groaned and slapped his free hand to his forehead. Elena laughed and tried to probe Nadia for more information, but Damien spoke over.

“I’ll drink, I’ll drink. If you promise to shut up, I’ll drink; if you _don’t_ shut up I’ll drink more.”

“All right,” Elena said, and tipped her glass to Nadia to indicate it was her turn to ask the next question. Nadia thought over things for a moment before asking a work-related question, one which Elena answered with ease.

They continued on like that for a short while; Nadia discarded her jacket on the back of her chair, while Damien progressed to undoing his tie and unbuttoning the top two buttons of his jacket. His hair was mussed up from the numerous times he’d run his hand through them, and he had his eyes half-closed and looking the most relaxed Elena had ever seen him.

Soon it was Nadia’s turn to ask Elena a question, and as she looked over at Elena with a devious grin on her face, Elena suddenly wished she hadn’t agreed to this game.

“All right, cuz, I’ve got a question. Just between you and me...Have you ever felt anything for Damien?”

“Whoa, _what?!_ ”

The grin froze on Elena’s face and time seemed to slow down to a crawl. Damien’s eyebrows moved up his face at the speed of the shifting tectonic plates, while Nadia leaned forwards in stop motion, folding her hands together and leaning her chin on them.

Elena glanced between Nadia, Damien, and her drink. The fact that she had already hesitated told volumes, and if she tried to say ‘no’, Nadia wouldn’t believe her. If she said ‘yes’ Nadia would tease her endlessly about it, and if she took the drink...

“Feelings for Damien?” Elena took a breath and grabbed her drink, downing it without hesitation. “I plead the fifth.”

Nadia frowned and let out a disappointed sigh. Damien kept his eyes on Elena, something not quite readable on his expression. After a moment he chuckled and took another shot of tequila.

“Thank you for saving us from this awkwardness.” Damien ran his hand through his hair one more time. “Your turn again Nadia.”

They continued on the game for a few more rounds, trading jokes and trivia in among a few drinks. Miraculously, Nadia never pressed the issue of Elena’s love life beyond that question about Damien, and when Hayden popped her head around the doorway Elena called an end to the game.

“Who won?” Nadia said, stumbling a little before straightening up. “I lost count.”

“I call it a draw,” Damien stretched his arms above his head, his rumbled shirt lifting up as he let out a long sigh. “I really should have stopped half an hour ago.”

“And miss all the fun?” Nadia said, giving Damien a gentle poke in the ribs with her elbow. “Just drink some water, you’ll be fine.”

“I’m not as young as you,” Damien said, getting to his feet. He walked a little awkwardly but held his balance better than Nadia did initially, and began to pick up his belongings that had somehow been scattered around the apartment.

“I’ll see you on Thursday,” he said, looking at Elena as he checked his pockets to make sure he had everything.

“Actually,” Elena said, looking around the room for Hayden. She and Steve had curled up on the sofa and were engaged in conversation; she glanced up and gave Elena a smile and nodded at her. “If you don’t mind, I’ll head home with you?”

Damien shrugged. “Sure.”

Elena tracked down her cousin and said her goodbyes, and did the same for Hayden and Steve. A few minutes later she had collected all of her own things and headed out of the apartment.

“I am going to have a massive hangover tomorrow,” Damien said, frowning and pressing a hand to his forehead. “I am already regretting this.”

“Then why did you agree to it?” The elevator dinged and they stepped into it, pressing the button for the first floor.

Damien shrugged. “Like I said, I felt generous tonight. Don’t get used to it.”

“Shame. I could get used to getting you drunk and revealing your deepest, darkest secrets.”

Damien pressed his lips together and watched the slow ticking down of the floor numbers. Elena similarly fell silent, not sure of what to say, and held back a moment when the doors opened and Damien stepped through.

“I-if I crossed a line, I’m sorry.”

Damien sighed and looked away, his eyes glistening. After a moment he looked back, a smile plastered on his face. “Come on, or we’ll be waiting forever for a train.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cedar Roost and Cedar Falls were heavily inspired by Canajoharie and Canajoharie Falls :)

**Chapter 4**

Five and a half months.

That was how long Nadia and Steve had been officially dating. They had moved in together not quite after four months, and now...

Elena was looking down at the mix of words and emojis, managing to decipher enough to get the gist of what Nadia was exploding about.

Steve had made mention of taking a trip upstate to visit his hometown and meet with his father, and this was something that Nadia was now freaking out about. She had an excessively bad history with relationships, and for her something like a meet the parents invitation was a massive step.

Elena swiped a quick message, requesting for Nadia to call her, and a couple of minutes later Nadia’s face flashed up on the screen and Elena swiped to answer. The expression on Nadia’s face when she appeared on the screen was wide-eyed and terrified.

“Nadia. Breathe.”

“What am I going to do? I can’t go upstate to meet Steve’s dad!”

“Why not?” Elena settled down onto her sofa and held the phone in front of her. She rested her head against her hand. “Think of it as a long weekend getaway and you just so happen to meet Steve’s dad while you’re there.”

“But I won’t be prepared to meet him if I do that.”

Elena sighed. “So you’d rather panic and stress about meeting Steve’s dad than pretend you’re going to meet him on accident?”

“Yep.”

It was very, very tempting to dial Damien into the call and have him talk some sense into Nadia, but she wasn’t sure it would go the right way. Damien was already irritated by the fact that Steve appeared to be a very secretive person and didn’t have much of an online trail, and having him sniff around Steve’s family as well wouldn’t go down too well with anyone.

Instead, what Elena was thinking of was almost a worst possibility, and she hesitated to voice it.

“What if I come with you? Make it a family get-together and we’re just...bringing our dates along.”

Nadia’s face cycled from panic to consideration to joy. She let out a cheer that Elena hoped the neighbours didn’t hear, and clapped her hands. “You’d _do_ that? Oh my god Elena that would be fantastic! We can take a tour around the town, get Steve to show us the sights, and enjoy ourselves. When was the last time we had time away together like this?”

“Too long.” Elena smiled despite herself. “I’ll text Hayden and ask her. I’ll be there, regardless.”

# # #

Somehow Steve had managed to squeeze four grown adults, one dog, and all the associated luggage and accessories into his car, and made it on to the interstate to drive to the innards of New York state.

There had been a very brief introduction of Dipper to Steve and Nadia; Elena had met the dog before on one of their more subdued dates, really more of a coffee morning that was in actuality in the afternoon and at Hayden and Sloane’s apartment. Dipper was some kind of beagle-collie-lab mix - Hayden had only vague information from the shelter, and to her all that mattered was that Dipper was a lovely calm and well-mannered.

Which, as Dipper stayed calm and relaxed despite Nadia’s excessively loud crooning of country songs, was vastly self evident.

“Come on, sing along!” Nadia said, pausing just long enough to state that and let out a brief laugh before continuing on. Elena, a smile on her face, shook her head with light disbelief. Steve let out a laugh of his own while Hayden leaned her elbow on the door, resting her head on her hand and looking out of the window at the highway signs as they passed by.

Nadia pouted as the song ended, and the next one that followed didn’t seem to abide by her standards as instead she pulled out her cell phone, linked it to the car’s speakers, and began blasting out more country music of her choosing.

Elena knew the lyrics to the following song, but stayed quiet as she mirrored Hayden. Being on the left hand side of the car Elena’s view was much less interesting, throngs of cars streaming by back in the direction of the city.

Nadia had told them where they were going - Cedar Roost, a rather standard New York town with a population that didn’t quite reach five thousand in number. Elena had modified her workload to accomodate the imprormptu trip, but if she could get a stable internet connection to do some work, she would be happy.

“I’ve got to thank you guys for agreeing to come along to meet Steve’s family. I couldn’t imagine doing this on my own.”

“If we’re doing gratitude, silence would be very nice.” Elena turned to look back at her cousin.

“But my crooning is its own reward! Right, Steve?”

Steve chuckled in response, and Hayden said nothing.

“Besides,” Nadia continued. “This is a _perfect_ time to rest, do some tourism, and go on a romantic couples’ trip.”

“I have been looking forward to some nice R&R,” Elena said.

“Exactly! I’ve been so busy in the studio trying to get everything done on time. My new collection explores social constructs placed upon the human form, and how, through artistic and abstract concepts, we can transcend the restrictive nature of categorisation.”

“That’s...nice. What does it mean?”

Elena saw Steve’s grin in the rear-view mirror. “It means we have a prodigy on our hands.”

“Only because _someone_ gives me inspiration every day.”

Elena tuned the two of them out as they began to fawn over each other once again, and she grabbed her phone out of her pocket. She absently checked on the news and some social media sites, and noted before too long that Hayden had joined her in that pursuit.

A moment later Elena’s phone beeped with an incoming message; and she grinned as she opened it up.

_Are we going to be like that? All smoochy and snuggly?_

_Depends. Do you want to be like that?_

_XD XD XD_

_At least they’re not in the ‘old married couple’ stage yet_

_Give them time_

# # #

A few hours later they were pulling into Cedar Rest, a highway sign proudly proclaiming their population of a bit over three thousand people. Not more than ten minutes later they had pulled up at the bed and breakfast, checked in, and settled into the common room beside the reception.

“Damn,” Elena said, checking the view out of the two metre high windows. The town itself was on the Mohawk River and just below the Erie Canal, and the bed and breakfast just so happened to be right on the river itself. “I think you picked the best place to stay in town, Steve.”

“Helps to know the person who runs the place,” Steve said with a grin and a quick wink. “How about I run our luggage up to the room?” he added, looking over at Nadia. Taking his cue, Hayden also ran hers and Elena’s luggage up, leaving the cousins alone for a brief moment.

“So...how are you feeling about meeting Steve’s dad?”

“I’m so nervous! Every time I think about it, I want to stress-sketch a still life...” Despite herself, Elena laughed and Nadia shot back. “Fruit is _calming!_ ”

“Okay.”

“Besides,” Nadia’s scowl turned into a huge grin. “We’ve got a beautiful day ahead of us!”

“And I am ready and willing to be your tour guide,” Steve said, having reappeared in the common room a moment earlier. “Let’s get going.”

# # #

After a quick change of clothes to ensure that everyone was wearing weather-appropriate warmer clothing - a mix of plaid, scarves, and windbreakers - everyone headed down to Main Street for their first day in the town. Nadia had her arm slipped through Steve’s elbow, while Hayden held Elena’s hand in one of hers, and Dipper’s lead in the other. Despite all the noise, sights, and smells, Dipper happily trotted along at heel, mouth open and tongue lolling out.

“Quite a welcoming comittee here,” Nadia said as they walked into the thick of the action.

“It’s Founder’s Day,” Steve said, “A celebration of the anniversary of our town’s first mayoral election. And a good opportunity to get a good look at what small town hospitality looks like.”

Nadia threw a smile at Steve and pressed against him, laughing at something he said too quietly for Elena and Hayden to hear. Hayden took her time looking over all the food trucks and various stalls set up for events and Elena just enjoyed the feeling of walking beside her, no pressure to pretend to be anything other than what they were.

“So what stories do you have of this place? Any small town secrets?” Nadia peered up at Steve. “How about you? Any good gossip from your teenage years?”

“Not...really.” Steve ran a hand through his hair. “I was pretty boring. No sneaking out late at night, no underage drinking, no doing anything that I shouldn’t.” He swept a hand across the view in front of them. “Cedar Rest is similar; no big crime mtsteries, no small-town suspicion. Just good old fashioned friendliness.”

“Oh...” Nadia’s face fell. “Well...”

“That doesn’t mean we can’t create new memories.” Steve looked over at Elena. “What do you think of my hometown so far?”

“It’s very lively for such a small town.”

“During festivals for certain. We have lots around here, almost one every week it seems.”

“Did you go to a lot of these festivals?” Hayden asked.

“Not really. I enjoyed riding horses with my dad instead. I grew up on my family’s farm.”

“With a favourite horse named Moonlight,” Nadia interjected.

Steve laughed and pulled Nadia in close. “Don’t let the other horses hear you say that.”

The group settled into light chatter as they walked around the festival, eyeing up the stalls. It was still early enough that restaurants were still serving breakfast menus, but that didn’t stop Nadia as she perused every menu offering sweet dessert items before settling on two almost-obscenely loaded cannolis, downing one before Steve could suggest the idea of sharing.

Thankfully for him, Nadia agreed to split the second cannoli after he picked up a hawawshi - cooked minced meat between bread dough - and agreed to split his with her as well. Elena and Hayden split some soft tacos after debating with the truck owner and getting a varied selection of flavours and fillings.

The other benefit of it being Founder’s Day was that almost all of the local museums and the community centre were offering discounted entrance fees. Steve was the one most enthusiastic about getting the others to learn about the local history, and the whole group spent a few hours moving from place to place, reading about everything from the early contact the Mohawk tribe had with settlers, industrial changes, famous local residets, all through to the most recent changes and additions to the town.

“There are more local sights close by,” Steve said as they walked back out into the natural light. A few more stalls had set up in the time they had been inside, and Nadia made a beeline for a new food stall that was offering doughnuts by the half-dozen, barely pausing before she made an order of a dozen of varying flavours.

“Are we stopping somewhere for lunch?” Hayden asked, eyeing the baked goods Nadia carried back over. “Or is that our lunch?”

Nadia looked shocked as Steve chuckled. “There’s an amazing diner not far from here,” he said. “They do all day pancakes; they’ve even got a special menu dedicated to them.”

Nadia grabbed Steve’s hand with her one free one, and looked at him with a sudden intensity. “We _must_ go there.”

“Guess that’s decided,” Elena said. “Where to?”

Steve gave some brief directions and they soon headed in the diner’s direction, pointedly ignoring Nadia sneaking a doughnut from the box and eating it on the way.

# # #

Steve wasn’t kidding when he said the diner had its own pancake menu, but he had neglected to mention that there was a massive assortment of flavour options, as well as recommended sauces to go with them. There was the classic combination of plain pancakes and maple syrup, but also options such as banana with a recommended peanut butter sauce; red velvet with cream cheese frosting; chocolate chip with vanilla cream frosting; and the one Elena chose after a long amount of deliberation, cinnamon apple with a white icing syrup.

The recommendation from both the waiter and Steve were to get milkshakes as well, and before too long four tall glasses were on the table, each in a different flavour. Both couples swapped tastes of each other’s drink, though things became a little more competitive when the pancakes arrived; Steve opting to break the pattern and go for waffles instead, while Nadia attempted to subtly steal a section of both Elena’s and Hayden’s pancakes.

“If you want some,” Elena said, curling her arm around her plate and shielding it from Nadia’s stabs. “Just ask.”

Hayden laughed as Nadia pouted, which was the wrong move. Taking advantage of the reduced defenses, she stabbed and dragged one of Hayden’s blueberry pancakes closer to her, slicing off a large chunk, and deftly moving it on to her own plate. When Hayden complained, Nadia offered peace by allowing Hayden a chunk of her own pancakes, and Nadia similarly bargained a trade with Elena.

“This feels like it’s a very familiar scene,” Steve said in between sips of his milkshake.

“When you spend your childhood summers defending lunch from your younger cousin, you get used to it.” Elena looked across at Nadia who just put on an innocent expression.

“I needed extra food! I was still growing!”

Elena raised an eyebrow. “And your excuse now is...?”

Nadia grinned and worked on her pancake stack, and before long all of them had finished their food.

“So,” Steve said. “The plan for the rest of today was to head back to the B&B and relax, then make an early start tomorrow to meet my dad.”

“Ooh!” Nadia raised her hand. “Didn’t you say there was a waterfall close by on the river? I want to go and see that.”

Steve looked over at Nadia and Hayden; Nadia looked at Hayden who just shrugged. “Sure,” Nadia said. “It’s near by so it won’t take long.”

“Great!” Nadia had a huge grin on her face. “Before then, I think I need to have a rest and sleep off my sugar coma.”

“I wonder why,” Steve said, putting an arm around Nadia’s shoulders and giving her a quick squeeze. “Let’s head back for a while, then drive out to the waterfall.”

# # #

Hayden had dragged Elena out to the river almost as soon as they got back to the B&B, pausing only long enough for a change into swimsuits. Despite the chill in the air it wasn’t as cold in the water as Elena had expected, especially when the sun hit overhead to warm up exposed skin.

Nadia had opted to stay much closer to the building, bringing out a travel easel and paints, warming up with some small observation paintings of still life items before beginning to render the scene in front of her - the low rolling hills, the meandering river, and the figures of Hayden and Elena splashing around in the water.

It wasn’t too long before the sun failed to warm them appropriately, and Elena called a truce to go inside, warm up a bit, let Nadia have her requested nap, and grab food before they piled back into the car. Hayden gave Dipper a scratch behind the ears, leaving the dog with her dinner, while Nadia had begun to scan through Pictagram and PinIt for pictures of Cedar Falls in anticipation of their visit.

“Wouldn’t you rather take pictures of your own when we get there?” Steve said as Nadia wandered out to the car, still preoccupied with her phone; they’d packed towels and drinks, and everyone was wearing swimsuits under their regular clothing.

“Unless you have a drone and a 4k camera hidden in your car, no.” Nadia finally moved the phone from her face and turned it to Steve. “I’m getting _inspiration_.”

“Uh-huh.” Steve grinned. “Last call for passengers to Cedar Falls!”

# # #

“Guys, I think we’ve been here before...We’ve passed that tree like five times.”

Elena exchanged a glance with Hayden as Steve looked crestfallen and attempted a left-hnd turn. It felt like they had been going in circles for ten minutes, trying to find the correct turn-off for the falls; among other things they had turned off onto three properties, a farm, and a dirt road that abruptly stopped a short distance into the woods.

“Sorry guys,” Steve said, reaching the main road once again. “I could have sworn it was right around here.”

“Maybe they changed the area?” Elena said. “You know, planted new trees and rerouted some of the roads.”

“Mmm.” Steve said nothing else, focusing on the road and turning onto a minor road where a rustic-looking sign indicated was the way to go for the falls.

“What are we looking for again?” Nadia said, looking at her phone. “A spruce tree with a bunch of stones beside it. Guys, keep an eye out.”

“Got it,” Elena said, neglecting to mention that she _had_ been looking out for it, and likely so had Nadia and Hayden.

After a few more minutes of aimless driving, turning, and reversing, Nadia let out a yell that Elena reckoned would only be matched if Nadia ever won millions on the lottery. She had indeed spotted the turning, and as Steve turned right the sound of flowing water reached inside the car through the open windows, growing louder as they drove further along. This time the dirt path ended in a makeshift parking lot with a few cars scattered about, and Steve let out a breath.

“Welcome to Cedar Falls,” he said as he turned off the engine. Everyone scrambled out of the car and grabbed what they needed from the trunk, carrying in hands and hoisted over shoulders as they walked the last bit.

Despite there being some other cars and, presumably, some other people around, the area surrounding the waterfall itself was still and silent. The waterfall itself wasn’t too high - maybe about eight feet - but the rushing water had carved out a small pool over the years and created a churn where the two water sources met.

In the light of the stars and moon, the waterfall seemed to almost sparkle, contrasting vividly with the dark ripples in the pool. Steve carefully placed the items he was carrying on the bank of the pool, while Elena dropped hers nowhere near as gently, an idea already formed.

“Hayden!” Elena yelled as she stripped off her shirt. “Race you to the top of the falls!”

Hayden laughed. “You’re on!”

Elena caught that Nadia said _something_ but not what she actually said, and pushed it to the back of her mind. She stripped off the rest of her clothes and shoes as she went, reaching he first dry patch of rock beside the waterfall and began to try climbing up. Thankfully she didn’t have to call upon non-existent climbing skills as there were large parts that she could stand on, and only a couple of sections where she had to reach up and grab a handhold.

With a glance around her, verifying where Hayden was (a few strides behind her) and the structure of the pool below (no jagged rocks, away from the centre of the falls), Elena took a couple of steps back before giving herself a running start and leaping off the waterfall. She plugged her nose on the way down, hitting the water feet-first and causing a small tidal wave.

“Oh!” Elena resurfaced and the chill of the water immediately hit. She swam a few strokes away and looked up to where Hayden was still on top of the waterfall, giving a languid wave. Hayden took that as permission and within a moment she too dived into the pool, swimming up close to Elena.

“It’s freezing!” Elena said to Hayden’s laugh. Hayden grabbed Elena’s hand and pulled her close, the two embracing in the water in a vague attempt to share some body heat. After a moment Elena pulled away, swimming up towards where Steve and Nadia had chosen to sit beside the pool. Steve had taken his shoes and socks off, and rolled up his jeans a little, letting his feet dangle in the water; Nadia was still completely dressed, kneeling with her legs out to one side.

“You must have come here as a teenager. Or with your dad as a kid. Or something. Do you honestly not remember?”

Elena glanced over to see Steve’s furrowed brow, but swam past them, pretending not to hear their conversation.

“I don’t remember as much as you want me to. I know I was a popular quarterback in school, but I never had any _real_ friends. Things like this may not have been that memorable because of it.” Hr grabbed Nadia’s hand, and what he said next was the last Elena was in earshot for. “I feel like I’m disappointing you somehow. Like I’m not the person you thought I was.”

Elena swam back towards Hayden, who seemed to be unaware of the oncoming presence. Forming a plan, Elena slowed down her swimming, trying to be as silent as she could, before gathering up a wave and lauching it at Hayden.

After the initial shock as the water rushed over her disippated, Hayden turned around to glare at Elena, slamming an open palm against the water and sending a shower of water over Elena. Her shriek echoed that Hayden had let out, and a few minutes of laughing, shrieking, and splashing followed, stopping only when an out-of-breath Hayden called a truce.

At some point during the war, Steve had stripped off and slid into the pool, and as Nadia moved to follow him Elena and Hayden got out, grabbing a couple of towels to dry themselves and looking over the location.

Hayden had grabbed her guitar from the pile of belongings and was idly tuning and strumming it, humming music that Elena didn’t recognised but still enjoyed. About every forth or fifth hum, Hayden strummed the guitar and made minute adjustments to the strings until she was happy with it.

“Here,” she said, abruptly holding the guitar out to Elena. “Let me hear you.”

Elena took the guitar. “I can’t play-”

“That’s not a problem.” Hayden moved behind Elena, leaning over her and guiding Elena’s right hand over the guitar’s hole, demonstrating how to strum without touching the strings. When she was happy that Elena had the gesture down, Hayden leaned to the left and put her hand on the neck of the guitar, holding down what seemed like a random choice of strings in a random pattern.

“When I nod, I want you to strum,” Hayden said. When Elena nodded, Hayden began to hum, nodding once every five hums. Initially Elena moved a bit delayed, but began to catch up to the pattern and almost began to strum before Hayden nodded.

“Good. Let’s switch to every other beat.” Once again Hayden began to hum, but only did so once before she nodded. Now used to hitting a pattern, Elena picked up the movements a lot quicker, and soon the two were strumming in harmony.

That was when Hayden began to change things up, moving her fingers along the strings and once more guiding Elena’s hand to strum. The music pulled from the guitar morphed from a single sound to the beginnings of a song.

“You’re not a bad teacher,” Elena said as Hayden took her hands off the guitar, and by extension Elena herself.

“I used to teach younger kids who were...neglected, so to say. With workaholic parents who were never around.”

“Ahh...Priviliged albeit lonely youngins. How long did you do that for?”

“A few years. Helped pay a bit of my college costs and kept me afloat when I was trying to find a decent job.” Hayden sat down next to Elena and motioned for the guitar back; Elena passed over the instrument and immediately Hayden began playing another song, one more energetic and exciting than the slower and casual song Elena had ‘played’.

“Do you ever miss it?”

Hayden laughed. “No. God, no. I mean it was nice being a person some of those kids could talk to regularly, but that business about finding a job you love...Don’t let your hobby _become_ your job, lest you end up hating it.”

“Good to know,” Elena said. The two of them settled into silence, Hayden putting her guitar aside and just watching the world go past.

# # #

Hayden and Nadia managed to stay awake long enough to re-pack their items into the car, but first Nadia and then Hayden began to doze off, heads leaning against the windows.

“So peaceful,” Elena commented, smiling when Steve chuckled. “You’d never guess Nadia was such a whirlwind of energy looking at her now.”

Steve didn’t respond, and Elena considered what she wanted to ask carefully before leaning forwards from the backseat.

“So, Steve, now that we’re alone...I know this quiz put you two together, but I want to make sure you really care about Nadia. Not just ‘cause some quiz told you to, but...” Elena let out a sigh. She didn’t want to come off like the overprotective big brother - or big cousin in this case - but... “Nadia’s been through a lot. She doesn’t exactly have the best romantic track record. I don’t want to see her get hurt again.”

Steve glanced up in the rearview mirror, catching Elena’s eyes in the reflection. “I know you haven’t known me that long, but I promise you - Nadia means everything to me.” Steve grinned, and the subtle tension that had been present since they arrived at Cedar Falls seemed to melt away. “She’s kind, funny, brilliant...I’m the luckiest guy in the world. I would never hurt her, and I’d be a fool to leave her.”

Elena nodded and sat back. “That’s a sufficient answer. I’m glad we’ve settled that.”

“Me too, Elena. I’m happy to know you, and I’m glad that you’re Nadia’s cousin. It’s nice to know that she’s got someone in her corner.”

Steve focused back on the road, navigating the car through the narrow and winding back roads. They were relying on the lights from the car and illumination from the moon, and while it gave a peaceful atmosphere to the area, it made seeing more than a few yards ahead slightly difficult.

“So how did you- _Deer!_ ”

Elena’s yell surprised Steve, and he swerved the steering wheel sharply, narrowly missing the deer that had suddenly leapt into the road; however, before Steve could try to regain control of the car, it skidded off the road and slammed into a power line.

Elena’s chest bashed against the taut seatbelt, briefly winding her. That wasn’t enough to stop her head from hitting the front seat, and for a moment she was dazed. Before she could form a thought, let alone react, the power line creaked and toppled towards the car, smashing the windshield and crushing the roof down, splitting the moveable space almost directly down the middle.

Somehow, someway, Elena avoided being hit by the effects of the falling power line, but the previous injuries began to have impact. Her vision began to fade, darkness tunneling in; she grabbed the door handle, fingers wrapping around it, but no further commands from her brain seemed to be sent. She battled to keep her eyes open, to look around and try to see how injured everyone else was, but every second spent fighting took exponentially more energy.

What felt like a split-second was likely a minute of unconsciousness as Elena became aware of smoke, sparks, and flashing lights, all of which assaulted her senses. A splitting headache began to form, and only one thought came to mind before she passed out again.

_Hayden..._


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Flashing ambulance lights.

Shattered glass sprinkled around.

Someone calling her name.

A strong hand pulling the car door off.

Sirens piercing the silence of the forest.

Being grabbed from the car, seatbelt tearing.

Soft earth beneath her head.

Darkness.

# # #

The first thing Elena was aware of was the steady beeping of technology pulsing in her ears, followed by the slightly off smell of recycled air. Her fingers brushed against stiff cotton sheets and she took in a deep breath, tasting the slight hint of disinfectant.

She opened her eyes, struggling against the temptation to give in to unconsciousness and rest some more. But while her body was battered and exhausted, her brain seemed to be booting into full functionality and she opened her eyes to the plain white ceiling of a hospital.

“Elena! You’re awake!”

Elena blinked a couple of times before turning her head to the left, the source of her cousin’s excited exclamation. Nadia was still in the previous night’s clothing, looking a bit wrinkled and dusty, but her wide grin showed no signs of worry.

“Nadia? What happened?” Elena’s voice was rough, but after a couple of swallows it seemed to rectify itself. “I remember the car crashing...”

Nadia’s face fell. “We were in an accident. I don’t remember too much, but you and Steve got it the worst. The paramedics say they found you outside the car.”

“I was?” Elena frowned. “I don’t remember much - lights, noise, blacking out. Maybe I wandered out disorientated?”

Nadia shrugged and reached for Elena’s hand.

“How’s Steve? And Hayden?”

“Steve’s fine, he got discharged a couple of hours ago. Hayden only had a couple of bruises and scrapes like me.”

“Sounds like everyone else got off lightly.” Elena let out a sigh and relaxed back into the bed. That short conversation seemed to have drained all the energy from her, but then the door opened and Hayden peered in.

“Elena!”

Hayden crossed the distance in a few hasty strides and wrapped her arms around Elena’s shoulders. Hayden let out a long breath before releasing her arms and stepping back.

“I was so worried about you! How are you feeling?”

“A little woozy and my memory is a bit fuzzy but...good.” Elena smiled up at Hayden. Nadia took that moment to scoot her chair back and stand up, offering it to Hayden.

“You two should catch up. I’m going to go check on Steve.”

With that, Nadia left the room and Hayden grabbed Elena’s empty hand.

“How are you? Nadia said you got a few scrapes.”

“I did get a little banged up too...The doctors cleared me, but you’re not the only one with a spotty memory.”

Elena huffed a laugh. “Car accidents injure people. Who knew?” She squeezed Hayden’s hand. “But I’m glad everyone is okay.”

“Me too. I don’t know what I’d do if you were seriously hurt...”

“Well, I’m _not_ , so you can stop worrying.” Elena fought back a yawn. “Everything happened so fast...”

That appeared to use up the last of Elena’s energy, as she slipped back into a deep sleep.

# # #

Elena was discharged with no further medical need a few hours later, just in time for her to get a call from Nadia - she and Steve had headed over to Steve’s father’s place in the meantime, and there was an open invitation to Elena and Hayden for the day if Elena was willing.

And even if she wasn’t a hundred percent, she was sure that Nadia would be exceedingly disappointed to be left alone for longer than necessary. In lieu of any transport of their own, they grabbed a taxi up to the given address, being dumped out at a property with fields that extended as far as the eye could see, complete with a barn and a rustic farmhouse for the full rural experience.

“Wow, this is where Steve’s dad lives? This is so different to the city.” Elena took in the sights as Hayden walked up to the front door. “Did you get to meet him before they left?”

“Briefly. And I don’t know, this kind of fits him. Familiar, old fashioned...a bit nostalgic maybe.”

Elena grinned as Hayden knocked on the door. “If you ever get bored of NASA, you could consider a career in psychoanalysis.”

“I’m happy where I am.”

The door opened and a silver-haired man filled the gap; he gave Hayden a hearty handshake before turning his attention to Elena.

“I’m Robert. Glad to see that everyone’s okay. You all gave an old man quite a scare.”

“Elena. And I promise, we’ll try to minimise auto collisions in the future.”

Robert gave a small laugh. “That would be appreciated. I’ve already gotten similar reassurances from Nadia.”

Robert led the two of them into the living room, where Nadia and Steve were relaxing. Or rather, _Steve_ was relaxing while Nadia looked like she’d flee the area at the sign of the slightest tremor. Dipper, whom Nadia and Steve had taken with them, stayed laying down where she was, but her tail began a series of rhythmic thumps against the floor upon seeing her human again since the previous day.

“Hey guys. Elena, good to see you out of the hospital.”

“Yes! Hi, hello!” Nadia waved her arm around, the unfortunate one holding onto her the rest of her drink. Thankfully Steve seemed to be on point and grabbed the cup before anything could happen to it, Nadia, or the various furniture items around them.

“Feel free to take a seat,” Robert said. “Can I get you two some drinks? Coffee? Milk? ...Something stronger?”

“I’ll take a coffee, thanks,” Elena said.

“That _something stronger_ piques my interest,” Hayden said.

“Coming right up! I’ll be back shortly with those drinks.”

Robert was true to his word as a moment later he returned with a tray of three drinks, two coffees and one shot of alcohol which he informed Hayden was brandy; she and Elena took their drinks with gratitude. Nadia, meanwhile...

“Thank you so much, Mr. Tennyson! We love drinks!”

“Oh! Um, you’re welcome, Nadia.”

Everyone settled for a moment, drinking their offered drinks until Nadia stood up with a start - thankfully she had placed her drink on the side.

“Oh! Elena, I forgot, I wanted to talk to you about my site.” She turned to Steve and smiled. “Boring maintenance stuff. I forgot to check before we left.”

Elena let herself be led out into the hallway, and waited while Nadia peered back into the living room and made sure that the others were distracted.

“Your site? What’s wrong, Nadia?”

“I’m freaking out is what’s wrong!” Nadia hissed. Elena raised an eyebrow. “I’m so nervous it’s stupid! I’ve been trying to hold it together all day, but I can’t tell if Mr. Tennyson likes me! I’ve been compensating by smiling more and talking lounder...Urgh, why am I like this?”

“Nadia.” Her cousin’s attention snapped to Elena as she spoke. “Breathe. Take a sip of your drink. It’ll calm you down.”

“But-you don’t even know what I’m drinking.”

“Whatever you chose, you chose it to help take the edge off. So drink up!”

In an instant, Nadia’s worry lines disappeared into a wide grin. “You know me so well.”

“Yeah. You’d almost think I’ve known you your whole life.”

The two returned to the living room, Nadia making a beeline for her drink and taking a couple of hearty sips before sitting down. Steve placed a hand on hers, and between the two actions Elena could see the stress melting off her.

“So, Nadia, Steve said your college degree is in art, correct?” Robert asked, looking straight at Nadia.

Elena glanced over at Nadia, concerned that she might falter under direct questioning...but instead her back straightened and her smile grew even wider.

“A Master of Fine Arts, specifically. I’m very proud of it.”

Robert smiled. “Look at that. Ambition. Vision. You could have taken a page out of Nadia’s book growing up, huh Steve?”

Robert gave a hearty _thump_ against Steve’s back; Steve grinned and looked at his father. While they were distracted, Nadia caught Elena’s eye and gave a short nod.

“Speaking of growing up,” Hayden said, “Robert was telling us about Steve’s childhood.”

“Oh, yes, we were.” Robert chuckled. “Where do you want me to start?”

“Just don’t believe _everything_ he says,” Steve interrupted. “The story about me eating a whole apple pie in third grade is a _huge_ exaggeration.”

“What was Steve like as a kid? His personality, I mean.”

“Steve was a scrappy kid. Never sat still. Always out climbing trees, jumping in creeks, or out riding on his horse, Moonlight.”

Steve laughed. “Come on, Dad. Stop messing with them. ‘Moonlight’, really? You couldn’t make up a better name?”

It felt like a chill went around the room as Steve spoke; Nadia’s jaw dropped while Elena worried her bottom lip, and Hayden looked between Steve and Robert.

“...You’ve told me about Moonlight before, Steve.” Nadia looked at Steve, the worry lines on her forehead again.

“Yeah,” Hayden added. “Nadia mentioned it on the drive here.”

“I...I did?”

Steve’s forehead crinkled as he frowned and pressed fingers to his temples. He leaned forwards, eyes unfocused. It was a long moment before anyone moved, let alone spoke.

“You feeling alright, Son?”

“I just...How could I forget...?”

Nadia fiddled with her cup, changing her mind between picking it up to take a drink, and leaving it where it was. The sound of clinking china echoed around the silent room a couple of times before she placed it down and instead folded her hands in her lap.

“It’s probably just an effect of the crash. Everyone got pretty banged up.”

Steve lit up, a smile on his face once again. “Sure! Yeah, I’m probably just off my game a little.”

Robert didn’t look convinced; he pursed his lips and looked at Steve. “I’ll give the doctor a call. Be sure to get you checked out before you leave town.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing,” Steve said, but his disarming smile seemed to do little to dissuade Robert. A moment later a timer began to sound from the kitchen and Robert leapt to his feet.

“That’s the oven. Steve, mind entertaining our guests while I check on the roast?”

Steve stood up as quick as his father did, gesturing everyone around to follow him as he showed the ground floor, minus the kitchen and dining area where Robert was checking on the food. Almost every area of the house had some kind of story to go with it, some said with confidence that everyone knew it, some in a more hushed tone that indicated they were meant to be more of a secret, especially from Robert.

“And this,” Steve said, stopping in front of a case that was filled to the brim with trophies of all sizes. “Is the picture case Dad converted into a trophy case after I won a few too many!”

Elena leaned in close, reading the inscriptions, seeing ones dating from when Steve would have been in elementary school, all the way up to high school and a couple even from college.

“Where are all the pictures?” Elena asked as she stood back up.

“I’m sorry?”

“Pictures. If this was a picture case before, then what happened to all the pictures that used to be there?”

“Yes!” Nadia said with a little bit too much enthusiasm. “I want to see baby Steve!”

Steve blushed a little at that, but began to think. “They should be around somewhere. Dad’s not one to throw things away...”

Steve rummaged around in the hallway drawers in search of some photographic evidence, finally pulling out a single picture in a frame. “Hah! Here we go!”

He brandished the picture; Steve in a football uniform, ball in his crooked arm with Robert standing beside him. The stands in the background were packed, and Nadia grabbed the picture in both hands.

“Aww look at you! Big famous high school QB!”

“Was that at a big game?” Elena asked, attempting to look at the picture in Nadia’s grasp.

“The biggest,” Steve said. “A lot of important scouts were in the stands that day. My dad was so proud.”

Hayden peered over Nadia’s shoulder. “Aww, you look like the perfect all-American boy. Did you have a lot of admirers?”

“Well, I-”

“ _Steve._ ”

Robert’s voice rang out and silenced the chatter; everyone turned to see him standing in the kitchen doorway, arms folded and a frown on his face.

“Help me in the kitchen with something, would you?”

“Sure. Everyone, make yourselves comfortable! I’ll be right out.”

Nadia and Hayden walked back to the living room, Nadia seeming to wonder what was going on, while not wanting to intervene, while Hayden was almost oblivious to the entire situation. Elena was about to follow their lead when raised voices sounded from the kitchen, loud enough that she could hear what was being said.

“Steve, _what_ have I told you?”

“I don’t see the problem! It’s just a picture!”

Elena hung back close to the kitchen, pretending like she was just casually waiting there while she attempted to hear the rest of the conversation.

“You know how important _privacy_ is in this family!”

“But Dad, I trust them! It’s Nadia!”

“And what of the rest of them? Even if you trust them, what have I told you?”

“...‘Our personal lives are our own business’.”

“Exactly. Trust me, Son. This is for our own good.”

Scraping chairs and the clink of cutlery sounded, and Elena turned on her heel and made her way back to the living room, sliding into a seat next to Hayden.

“Hey, everything all right?”

“Yeah...I think so.”

Elena’s mind was churning with what she had heard, and the implications of. What could be so important that privacy was not just upheld but _expected_ , to the point where showing someone an innocuous picture was worth a dressing down?

Two ideas jumped to the forefront, and neither were appealing in the slightest. One was an implication that Robert was involved in crime of some kind, and keeping their heads low about it; the other was that they were part of witsec and they were involved in a very high profile case.

Elena tried to calm the churn in her stomach as Robert opened the door to the kitchen and announced that the roast was done, and invited everyone to get seated for the meal. Before Steve could seat himself, Elena grabbed his shirtsleeve and pulled him aside.

“Hey, is everything okay? Your dad seemed kind of...upset.”

“Ah.” Steve glanced at his father, whose attention was solely focused on getting the meal ready. “My dad is a pretty private guy. He can get kind of touchy about family photos, especially ones where it’s clear a mother figure is ‘out of the picture’.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I wouldn’t have asked if I’d known...”

“It’s fine. It’s...not a topic my dad likes to bring up. But he’ll be fine by the time we get to dessert. It cheers him up every time, like clockwork.” Steve smiled. “Now let’s grab a seat before all the biscuits are gone.”

Elena returned his smile and sat down towards the end of the table. Robert was at the head, Steve and Hayden next to him on each side, then Nadia and Elena next to their respective partners. As soon as the lid was lifted from the roast, the smell hit Elena full-force; she had caught the hint of it in the living room, but up close it was doing a disservice to call it mouth-watering. Similar intoxicating smells wafted from the assorted sides - mashed potatoes, green beans, cheddar buttermilk biscuits, maple carrots, and creamed spinach.

Despite Robert serving up generous portions of the pot roast, and with more sides than Elena felt she could pile onto the plate, there was still a large amount of food left after the first serving. Nevertheless everyone began eating and chatted about all kinds of topics.

Elena gave her input on subjects, but kept a cautious eye on both Robert and Steve throughout the meal. Neither gave any indication that anything was amiss; Robert was a brilliant host, Steve a perfect boyfriend, and it seemed that no subject was off-limits to them during the meal.

Dipper had settled next to Hayden, looking up with pleading puppy eyes for any kind of table scraps, but after being ignored for a bit she flumped down with a huff and stayed waiting while people ate.

As Steve said, Robert was back to his initial cheerful self once it came time to serve up dessert - a cranberry-apple pie - and Elena had tucked the incident to the back of her mind.

# # #

After the exceptionally filling meal and a caution from Robert for Steve to call if he felt worse, the group made it back to the bed and breakfast with thankfully no additional adventures. Elena was still a little tired out from the accident, but pushed through the tiredness to stay with the others in the common room, discussing Cedar Rest.

“This is a pretty beautiful place,” Hayden said, gazing absently out of the window.

“It has been peaceful. Plus everything you could want within walking distance.” Elena caught a look from Nadia at that “What?”

“City girl suddenly having a change of heart?” Nadia said, gently nudging Elena in the ribs. “I thought you loved New York.”

“Both places have their perks. In New York you get twenty-four hour living, get to experience food and culture from all over the world; here things are slower-paced, allowing you to take time to yourself without being accused of being a damn tourist.”

“Ooh, I feel that!” Hayden said with a short laugh. “I was mortified the first few times I tried using the subway; I quickly learned how to swipe my ticket through _properly_.”

“I bet you did,” Nadia said, curling her legs up on the sofa. “But all things aside, Cedar Rest doesn’t seem like a bad place to settle down.”

Elena raised an eyebrow. “Now I’m hearing things. You’d give up your apartment for this? What about all your planned art exhibitions.”

Nadia waved her hand. “I can travel back for them. Besides, I might get more inspiration out here. Enjoy country living a little. Scope out the local housing market to see what’s available. Maybe when things are more _settled_. After a certain _someone_ asks a certain _question_ perhaps?”

“Real subtle, Nadia,” Elena said, glancing over to where Steve was. He’d settled on the sofa with them briefly before choosing to stand by the windows overlooking the river, and had lost himself in thought. He didn’t seem to notice the discussion about his hometown, nor the comment Nadia made in his direction.

_...‘Our personal lives are our own business’._

_Exactly. Trust me, Son. This is for our own good._

Elena pursed her lips and stood up from the sofa. She paused briefly to stretch her sore muscles before walking over to where Steve was and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey Steve, everything all right?”

Steve turned to look at her, and Elena could see the maelstrom churning in his blue eyes. She glanced back at Nadia, but Hayden seemed to understand the moment and had distracted Nadia with some questions - judging by Nadia’s enthusiasm, likely something about her art.

“What’s on your mind? You look a little worried...”

Steve let out a sigh and turned back to look at the river. It was a long moment before he spoke. “I guess I’m feeling a bit off...Maybe it’s nostalgia? Or something about the car crash, I don’t know. But coming back here has been more emotional than I thought it would be.

“It’s like...I’m not sure. Everything feels right, but off at the same time. Like you remember your kitchen being arranged one way, but you walk in one day and everything is placed different.”

He caught Elena’s frown, took a deep breath, and shook away his own frown, replacing it with his far more typical genuine grin.

“Wow. Sorry to dampen the mood. Don’t mind me!”

Before Elena could ask anything more he walked back over to Nadia and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “So what do you want to do on our last evening here?”


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Elena awoke to rapid pounding on the door to her room and, bleary-eyed and still half-asleep, she wandered over from the bed to said door, opening it a crack and wincing at the bright hallway light that spilled into the room. Hayden was similarly awake, though still in bed as she had chosen the side that was furthest from the door.

“Nadia?” Elena looked at her cousin as her brain tried to compute what was happening. Nadia was standing in pyjamas, an outdoors jacket slung over her shoulders, and her face was streaked with tears.

More tears started falling from Nadia’s eyes as she collapsed forwards, letting out a huge sob as she fell into Elena’s arms. It took a few moments for her sobs to subside enough for Elena to coax out comprehensible words from her.

“Steve...he’s gone.”

Gone. _Gone_ gone. Clothes gone, suitcase absent, phone and wallet missing. The car that they had driven to the bed and breakfast was still present, the keys to that being the one thing that Steve seemed to have left behind. Elena drilled Nadia on what had happened after she left, but all Nadia said was that things were normal - normal discussions, normal actions, normal routines. Nothing at all to suggest that he would up and leave in the middle of the night with everything he had brought with him.

“...and I’ve tried calling him, but he won’t answer.”

“Call him again.” Nadia looked over at Hayden who had been hovering a foot away, listening to the conversation but not wanting to butt in. “We’ll find him.”

“I’ll call Robert,” Hayden said, taking out her phone and beginning to scroll through the contacts before she finished speaking. Once she found Robert’s details she hit the ‘call’ button, but paused. “It’s all right, Nadia. There’s got to be a logical explanation for this!”

Nadia sniffed but nodded her head. She had her own phone on speaker as she dialled and re-dialled Steve’s number, every time getting the same bland answer machine message. She finally stopped after five attempts, but between standing around and Nadia wringing her hands over and over again, Elena felt the need to do something.

“Keep calling. And see if you can get the police informed,” Elena added. “Nadia, did you check your room?”

“Only enough to see that Steve’s stuff is missing.”

“I want to search. See if there’s anything that can give us a clue.”

“Okay.” Nadia took a deep breath and followed Elena out of the room. They walked a few paces down the hallway to where Nadia and Steve had been staying; in Nadia’s haste she had left the door wide open, but considering the late time and the fact that the only people around would have been other guests, there was little to worry about.

Elena moved with purpose, striding over the threshold and across the room, flicking on all the lights as she passed. She began to scan the room, starting at eye level, then ground, then ceiling. She patrolled the room and took in anything that looked even remotely like it was a clue, from a receipt for one of the museums they had visited to a notebook that Nadia was adamant was hers, but Elena still wanted to check.

Where she couldn’t see or reach on her own, she used the zoom on her phone’s camera to check in more detail. Thankfully the only things that she found that way were a couple of tiny dust bunnies and peeling wallpaper, neither of which Steve would have been responsible for.

But as Nadia said, everything of Steve’s was gone. Everything of his had been cleaned out so thoroughly it looked like only one person had been in the room for the past few days.

“What did he do before you got into bed?” Elena asked for what was probably the third time, and Nadia talked her through Steve’s actions once more. Elena retraced his exact movements, trying to see if there was a hint in the way he moved or something he passed by, but nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

# # #

They reconviened in Elena and Hayden’s room; Hayden had managed to get through to the local sherrif’s office and let them know the situation, but any calls to Robert’s number were as fruitless as Nadia’s attempts to contact Steve.

Elena had raised the option of searching Robert’s place, but Hayden had volunteered herself to head over there; when Elena attempted to protest Hayden whispered that Nadia would appreciate her cousin staying with her to comfort and console her, rather than a relative stranger, and Elena had to concede that she was right.

However, Nadia had been as restless as Elena was, and had managed to twist Elena’s arm to venture out and check places on foot, in case Steve had chosen to walk somewhere. That didn’t seem to likely to Elena, but she had agreed to walk with Nadia to keep her company and occupy her own restless brain.

Not wanting to leave Dipper on her own for however long, Elena had clipped the leash on to the dog and the three of them walked the length of the river, tracing its winding path along to Cedar Falls.

“I’m confused. What do you think happened? Why would Steve just disappear like this?”

Elena pushed down her own doubts and concerns - she didn’t need to lead on Nadia with her own rumours and ideas when she had no idea if anything was remotely true. “I think he realised he needed time to process everything. He said to me that coming home was more emotional than he had expected - maybe him trying to fit his old Cedar Rest life and new Nadia life together brought up concerns. You’re his future, and I’m sure once he’s figured it all out he’ll turn up like nothing happened.”

“But something _did_ happen.” Nadia sighed, closing her eyes for a few steps. “But you’re probably right.” She grabbed Dipper’s leash from Elena and walked ahead for a bit, feet crunching against the fresh grass.

# # #

They hit Cedar Falls and split up to cover ground more quickly, circling around the perimeter and discovering nothing more than a handful of late-night bathers who, upon being shown a photo of Steve, stated that they had not seen him.

Elena suggested to Nadia the opportunity to let Dipper off-leash and she complied, the dog staying reasonably close to heel as they continued their exploration of the area, only occasionally wandering off to sniff something before returning.

However, on one of those investigations, Nadia walked off and Elena paused, attempting to call the dog back. When that didn’t work, she trudged through the wooded undergrowth, clipping the leash back on to Dipper.

“Come on, girl,” Elena said, giving the leash a gentle tug. “If you don’t-what’s that?”

Her phone torch - which she had been using for illumination in the dim night - caught on something midly reflective. She stuffed her phone into her pocket temporarily, stretching out until her fingers caught on something that was definitively not natural, and pulled it back. She wrapped Dipper’s leash around her wrist, grabbed her phone back out of her pocket, and held the light up to what she was holding.

It was the single, sole picture Steve had shown them from his father’s house, the one of the football match. It was crinkled and slightly creased, the top-left corner folded over. Elena frowned, pressing the photo to her thigh and attempting to smooth it out, but as soon as she unfolded the corner her heart skipped a beat.

In the stands, in that corner, was the woman who greeted Elena at Eros. The receptionist of a sort, the woman who had done the initial interview, and the one who had coordinated the minimal contact since.

_Cecile._

She folded the photo carefully and stuffed it into her pocket, whistling at Dipper and shining the light in front of the two of them. Nadia had gone on far enough that Elena couldn’t see her, and while she did her best not to think about it, Elena’s mind swirled with ideas on just how and why Cecile would be at a high school football match.

The other main thought that resurfaced time and again was whether to give Nadia the full picture, with Cecile, or to just show her the picture as indication that Steve or Robert had been to the area since their lunch together.

Her initial instinct was to hide the full picture, avoid adding in more questions, in some small way protect her cousin...but if Nadia looked at the picture, saw Cecile on her own, she would have more questions and be more panicked than if Elena came out with the whole truth to begin with.

“Elena! Oh I thought _you_ had gone missing as well!”

Elena was jolted out of her thoughts as Nadia wrapped her arms around Elena; evidently she had caught up to Nadia in her absent-minded trek. Elena returned the embrace awkwardly with one arm.

“I’ve not been able to find Steve or any trace that he might have been here.” Nadia sighed and hooked her hand through Elena’s elbow. “Let’s head back.”

Elena paused; Nadia took a step further before she stopped and turned back around.

“What is it?”

Elena didn’t say anything, but instead took the photo from her pocket and offered it to Nadia, completely unfolded. Nadia herself didn’t say anything for a good few moments, but Elena could see her brain working as she scanned the photo - the initial jubilation that Steve or Robert were there, followed by confusion, and then concern.

“Is that Cecile? From _Eros_? What was she doing there? What does this mean?”

 _A thousand different things._ “It could be a coincidence. Cecile could have had a relative playing at that same game - think of all those stories where people look back at old photos and realise they were in the same place that long ago.

“Or,” Elena added with a sigh. “It could be that Steve and Eros have been connected for longer than we thought.”

“Why wouldn’t Steve tell me about this? Is that why he left? If he’s willing to hide something like _this_ , then what else might he have been hiding from me?”

“I don’t know...But not just that, what does this mean about Eros? What are _they_ not telling us?”

Nadia looked ready to crumple the photo up, but instead she folded it up tightly and stuffed it in her inner jacket pocket. She flicked away a tear and a look of determination settled over her face.

“We’ll figure this out, Nadia. The answers are there somewhere, we just have to find them.” Elena extended an arm to Nadia and Nadia leaned into the embrace. “Come on, let’s get back to the B&B. We’ll see what Hayden’s discovered.”

# # #

They didn’t have time to see if Hayden was around before Elena stepped on something that made a loud, crisp _crunch_ sound under her boots in the midnight silence. Nadia had practically pounced on her to see what it was, but upon seeing Steve’s handwriting she had handed it back for Elena to read out loud.

Elena had tried to soften the blow by rewording Steve’s message, but when Nadia let out a sob and reached for the note, Elena’s response was too slow.

“He-” Elena began, but Nadia’s face turned to stone as she read the true words written. She made a half-attempt at a rebuttal but in a split second the energy vanished from her body and her shoulders sagged.

“He’s really gone.”

“I’m sorry.”

# # #

Hayden had reappeared about twenty minutes after Nadia and Elena had returned, and got the story of what they had found in between bouts of anger and crying. Hayden herself hadn’t found anything useful - Robert’s place was locked with no one answering and no one residing in the building either. Nadia had been incredulous about Hayden breaking in, but soon realised it was a moot point.

As it was still the middle of the night and they had no transport - Steve’s car having been towed to the local mechanic and likely a write-off - they agreed to wait the few hours until Sloane could drive up from NYC to pick them up. Hayden waved off any concerns that Sloane might not want to make a multi-hour round trip just to pick them up, and was the first one to head back to their room to get some rest.

Elena was the last one, making sure Nadia was okay to spend the night in her now empty room, and Nadia insisted through a snuffly nose that she was. Not wanting to press the matter and potentially upset Nadia even more, Elena took her at face value and walked to her own room, pausing to take some clothes off but not bothering to pull on any nightclothes to replace them, instead sliding into the bed in bra and underwear next to Hayden.

If Hayden noticed, she didn’t say anything.

The next pure memory Elena had was of Hayden greeting Nadia at the door, and opening her eyes showed that dawn had broken and it was likely time to get ready to leave. Elena grabbed a discarded shirt and pulled it on before getting out of bed and finding a pair of jeans to put on.

“Sloane should be here in about ninety minutes,” Hayden said, ignoring Elena wandering around the room in various states of undress. She only looked over when Elena had found a hairtye and was pulling her curled brown-and-orange ombre hair out of her face and into some semblance of control. “I’ve settled our bills with the B&B owner so we’ll be ready to leave when she gets here.”

“She’s left already?” Elena said, diving into the bathroom, giving her hair a quick brush before tying it back in a ponytail. “And when did _you_ get up?”

“About an hour ago.” Hayden was standing off-centre, arms folded as she looked in the direction of the bathroom. “Sloane never sleeps in, and I picked up the habit. It’s difficult to ignore the smoke alarm going off for the third time because she’s tried to make a fancy breakfast for her new roommate.”

“Damn, three days in a row? I would have just ordered something in on the second day.”

Hayden laughed. “Three days in a row? I wish. No, this was the third time that morning.”

“Oh.”

They settled into small talk as Elena brushed her teeth and finished prepping for the morning. After a bit Nadia turned on the TV to an inoffensive nature program to fill the silence as they begun to pack all their belongings away. Nadia gathered everything she had from her room and dumped it on the bed in Elena and Hayden’s room, enlisting Elena’s help to pack it all away as, it transpited, Nadia had borrowed some space in Steve’s luggage for some of her items.

“All I’m saying is that _maybe_ you could have brought along a smaller easel for the trip,” Elena said, exasperated, as an argument broke out about how and where to store the easel for the trip back. Elena wanted it to just be folded up and tossed in the trunk, Nadia wanted it safely packed away, and Hayden had tried to be productive by seeing if she could make room by rearranging an already-packed suitcase.

Eventually everything was packed away with a minimum of further disagreements, and Elena let out a sigh as she locked her room and gave the key to Hayden to pass along to the owner as she took Dipper for a walk before the drive back. Elena and Nadia began to ferry the bags to the front parking lot, giving them both

time to think over the previous night’s events.

_“What do you think? Con artist? Adulterer? Trust fund kid?”_

Elena bit back a retort to the memory. For Nadia’s sake, she hoped that Damien was wrong and this was all some misunderstanding, that Steve did genuinely need some space, and everything would be resolve amicably and maturely.

And if Damien was right and Steve had something going on beneath the surface...

Elena was jolted out of her thoughts as Hayden hailed a car that pulled into the parking lot. Sloane had turned up mere minutes after Hayden had said she would, and Sloane barreled out of the vehicle and began grabbing backs to pack them all up. The other three leapt into action and the four of them packed up their belongings, Elena given the tricky job of trying to wrangle Dipper and stop her from dashing down to the river.

Throughout the whole process Nadia kept Steve’s note in her hand, only pausing to put it in a pocket when she desperately needed both hands to accomplish a task. Despite it only being a few hours since they found it, it had already become weather-worn with very noticeable fold marks in it - Nadia had spent some time folding and unfolding it during the night it seemed.

Before too long the car was fully loaded and the four humans, plus one dog, piled back in. Hayden had shotgun and spent a decent amount of time chatting to Sloane about what she had been doing while Hayden was away - the answers being ‘work’ and ‘watching QuickFlix’. Dipper had settled down into her cage in the trunk, tongue lolling as she panted happily and watched the passing scenery, mirroring Nadia who was also watching out of the same side window.

Elena, meanwhile, watched her cousin. The hours back to the city seemed to stretch on forever, even when Hayden hooked up her phone to the car’s system and began piping cheery yet generic music through the speakers. A few songs Nadia was partial to came and went, but she never broke her gaze from the window, no indication of recognition. Even when Elena tried to engage her in idle talk about her art and plans for her new series Nadia gave short, one-word answers and before too long Elena stopped trying, instead focusing her mind on what to do next.


End file.
